It takes Two
by curiousbabe
Summary: Steph likes to live in denial, but when Ranger gets back she has to face the consequences of her actions. Babe, but Morelli friendly. Rated M just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters belong to JE, I'm just playing with them.

If you read my previous story this is **not** a squeal to it. I have had many ask to do one, so I am considering it. I hope you enjoy this story. I'm going to try my hand at a controlling Ranger.

It Takes Two

Chapter 1

My name is Stephanie Plum. That's the only easy thing in my life right now. About three weeks ago I couldn't button my jeans anymore. I've been wearing black stretch and sweatpants to work. I shouldn't have to worry about that this soon, but in my life nothing is easy.

Let's start at the top. I'm 33 years old, and I live with my hamster Rex in an apartment that people seem to think has revolving door. The biggest problem with that is when people come over they usually leave unwanted presents, or trash my place. Luckily for me that hasn't happened in 5 months.

I have two men in my life. One is a six foot tall HOT Italian cop named Joe. He has the best ass in all of Trenton. He's my ex-boyfriend. We broke up about 5 months ago. I guess it was right after my last stalker was caught breaking into my apartment while I was sleeping. The guy had a enough explosives in his car to put on Trenton's Fourth of July show. That brings me to Ranger. He's the one who caught my stalker.

Ranger is a six foot two, 200 pound all muscle Cuban god. He's a mercenary, a bounty hunter, a business man, my best friend, my two time lover and my babies father. Oh yeah I'll get to that. My life is always complicated, but that seems to top anything that has ever happened.

You see after my last stalker I gave up bounty hunting. I know, it doesn't seem like a job a Italian/Hungarian five foot seven girl from the burg should have. Of course that's what my mother and Joe always told me. Ranger never told me that, but he had to save me more times than I can count.

I work doing computer searches and distractions for Rangeman. Rangeman is Rangers security company. The pay is good, I don't have to wear pantyhose, and I work with the most amazing eye candy. Now don't get me wrong Ranger is the best looking man I have ever seen, but all of the ex-military men that work for him are good looking. They could make millions doing a pin-up calendar.

The fireman have nothing on these guys.

After Joe and I broke up Ranger and I got a lot friendlier. He used to steal kisses in the alley outside of the bonds office, but with me working for him the kisses became much more frequent. Let's just say he would kiss me in the elevator, in his office, in my cubical, in the copy room, in his apartment, and in my apartment. OK I guess we'd shared kisses in those places before, but it became a daily thing. Actually it happened multiple times a day.

That brings me to how I've gotten myself into my latest predicament. About three months ago Ranger asked me to have dinner with him in his apartment. After I finished for the day I turned off my computer and headed upstairs. Ranger has a serene apartment on the seventh floor of Rangeman.

When I arrived Ranger handed me a glass of wine. Ella his housekeeper had made us dinner and it smelled heavenly. I drank the glass of wine nervously. I had slept with Ranger once before, and I wasn't sure if my heart could handle a second time. Don't get me wrong, that night was magical. I never realized having sex could feel like that. I felt completed when I was with him, and then he sent me back to Joe.

Joe is a great guy and fabulous in bed, but he's not Ranger. I love Joe, but I'm in love with Ranger. Ranger told me he doesn't do relationships. He also told me that he loves me, but it's not the kind of love that comes with a ring, but a condom.

I drank half of the bottle of wine with dinner. After dinner Ranger told me had to leave for a couple of months to train some new Army Rangers. He said he would try to call me when could. After that one thing led to another and we shared a passionate night. The next day we spent together. Ranger took me out to the movies and dinner. I spent the night with him again. He left the next morning.

He calls me about once every other week. He will hopefully be back in another week or so. I haven't told him what is going on, and no of course I don't know how I'm going to tell him.

Joe has been a great friend since we broke up. He's the only other person besides my doctor that knows I'm pregnant. At first we avoided each other when possible. He was at Pino's the night I found out I was pregnant. It was six weeks after Ranger left. I walked in after work to pick up a meatball sub for dinner. Joe was sitting at the counter and smiled at me when I walked in. The minute the pizza smells hit me I ran back out the door.

I managed to hide in the bushes while I lost my lunch. Joe found me their. He took me home, and asked what was wrong. At that time I had no idea I was pregnant, but Joe knew. I told him I had my period twice since we broke up. That's when his eyebrow lifted in question. "Steph we've been broken up for almost four months." he told me.

Joe was great. He actually took me to my OBGYN appointment. They confirmed that I was six weeks pregnant. That was six weeks ago. Joe has called or come over every night since. He makes sure I'm taking my prenatal vitamins, and that I'm eating.

I don't think any of the guys at work know, or at least they haven't let on that they know. I can't drink coffee because the caffeine is bad for the baby. I found herbal tea in the break room that I've been drinking. I also found packages of saltines, and I hid a couple in my top desk drawer so they're close if I'm feeling nausea. I've only gotten sick at work three times, and I was able to play it off.

I'm twelve weeks pregnant now, and I just got back from my appointment. I called Tank and told him I needed the rest of the day off to take my grandmother somewhere. Tank is Ranger's right hand man, and he's in charge when Ranger is out. I knew he wouldn't say anything about my grandmother because she scares him.

Who would of thought a black six foot three man that is built like a tank and all muscle would be afraid of a little old grandma. It must have been that time when she grabbed his package and told him she could give him a run for his money, or the time when he saw her grab Hal's butt, or the time when she, well you get my point.

Grandma Mazur is seventy-five, and she is one feisty lady. Gravity hasn't been nice to her body, but she still tries to wear things that a teenager would. She likes to grab at all of Ranger's men. She's a little outrageous, but I love her just the same.

I don't actually have to take grandma anywhere, but I needed to go home. I grabbed some Ben and Jerry's on the way home, and I'm sitting on the couch crying while eating it.

"Cupcake are you OK?" Joe asked me as he came through the door and saw me crying. He knew I had an appointment today, and said he'd stop over tonight with dinner.

"Steph is everything alright?" He asked. "Is the baby OK?"

I looked up and gave him a week smile. "The babies are fine Joe."

"Gosh Cupcake you scared me. Wait did you say babies?"

I nodded crying. "I got to hear the heartbeat today." I sobbed "Both of them."

I was full out crying. Joe sat next to me and pulled me into his arms. "It's going to be OK Cupcake. Shh. It will be OK. Shit, I hate when you cry."

It made me laugh. He never new what to do when I cried.

"I'm going to get you some tissues." Joe said as he got up and headed toward the bathroom.

Someone sat down on the coffee table in front of me, and took both my hands in his. I thought it was Joe. I looked up and saw Ranger staring at me his face full of emotion. "Babe." Ranger said, and I started bawling.

Ranger sat down next me and put his arm around me. I snuggled into his chest. Joe came back out of the bathroom.

"I put the tissues on the coffee table. I'm going to go. Call me if you need anything Steph."

Ranger waited for Joe to leave and scooped me up so I was sitting on his lap. He had one arm around me, and used the other to take my face in his hand. "Tell me what's wrong."

I cried even harder. "Do you have a stalker?" I shook my head no. "Did Joe do something?" I shook my head no again and tried to get up, but Ranger wouldn't let me. "Did I do something?" He asked. I had started to get myself under control, but when he asked that I started sobbing again.

"Stephanie please tell me." Ranger said.

I instinctively put hand over my belly and looked up into face. "I'm" sob "Pregnant." I cried. Ranger's blank face fell into place, which of course made me cry harder. This was definitely not the way I imagined I would tell him. I had no idea how I was going to raise one child, but now I can't even fathom how I'm going to raise twins.

"Morelli." He said. I shook my head no.

"I'm tw-tw-elve we-weeks preg-nant." I told him. I could tell he was trying to figure the math out. Once he did it took a couple of minutes before he spoke. He handed me a couple tissues, and I wiped my eyes, and blew my nose.

"Have you been to the doctor?" He asked. I shook my head yes.

"Is that where you were today?" I shook my head yes again.

"Is everything OK with the baby?" I shook my head yes again. "Babies." I whispered.

"Stephanie what did you say?" He asked and he didn't sound too happy.

"The babies are fine. I got to hear the the heart beat today, but instead of hearing one there was two. They told me I'm having twins. I have an ultrasound scheduled in two days to confirm it." I managed to say.

I tried to get up, but Ranger was still holding me in place. "Bathroom." I said, and he released his hold on me. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and looked in the mirror. I had mascara running down my face, and my hair was a mess. I washed off all of the make-up, and brushed my hair putting it up in a ponytail. Ranger was standing in my kitchen on his phone when I came out of the bathroom. He finished up his call.

"Let's go Babe." He said grabbing my purse while he took my arm to escort me out.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Home." He said.

We got into his turbo and I closed my eyes. This was not how I wanted him to find out. I could tell that he wasn't happy. I was lost in thought when we pulled into the garage at Rangeman. Ranger got out and opened my door. I followed him into the elevator, neither of saying anything. We went straight up to seven.

Ranger walked over to the intercom and pressed it. "Ella can you bring dinner up for two?"

"I'll be up in fifteen minutes." She replied.

I went over and sat on the sofa. Ranger came up and sat down next to me.

"Who knows." he asked.

"Only you and Joe." I told him.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I could hear the sadness in his voice when he asked.

"I didn't want to tell you over the phone." I said.

"But you told Joe." His voice was getting louder. I've never heard him raise his voice.

I explained how I went to Pino's and Joe found me in the bushes getting sick. Ranger didn't seem as upset after that.

Luckily I was saved by Ella bringing in dinner. She looked over at me and smiled. "I brought some ice cream for desert Stephanie. I'll put it in the freezer."

"Thanks Ella."

We got up and and went to the table to eat. Ranger kept staring at me which made me very nervous. I kept my head down. The food was great. Ella made Chicken, rice and steamed vegetables. I ate all of my vegetables and half of the chicken and rice. I can't eat as much in one sitting or I'll get sick, so I eat a lot of small meals. Oh and I crave vegetables. I guess that's another cue that baby, I mean babies take after Ranger.

Ranger got up and left after we ate. He didn't say anything to me, he just left. I decided to see what would happen if I tried to leave. I know I was playing with fire, but I really don't know what else to do. I opened the door to the apartment, Manny and Brett were standing on each side of the door.

"Do you need something honey?" Manny asked. He always been very sweet to me after I had pretended to be his wife when he was shot.

"I was just going to go to the store." I told him in the most innocent voice I could muster.

"Sorry, but we can't let you leave the apartment. I can have one of the guys go out and pick up anything you need." He smiled at me. Damn he had me and he knew it.

"That's OK, I'm just going to lay down." I went back into the apartment and sat down on the couch. Damn Ranger! I can't even get out of the apartment. I tried calling him on cell phone, but it went to voice-mail.

I called Lula, but she didn't answer her phone either. I called the bond's office next.

"Hey Connie it's Steph. Is Lula there?" Connie is the one of the burg's biggest gossips.

"She got a call about ten minutes ago. It was real weird. She answered, but then got real serious and walked outside to talk. When she came back in she said she had to go and took off." Hmm

"Thanks for the info Connie. I gotta go."

I hung up with Connie and called Joe.

"Steph?" Joe answered.

"Yeah Joe it's me. I'm at Rangeman. Can you come pick me up?" I asked him.

"You and Ranger need to work this out." He told me.

"Please Joe. I'm upstairs in his apartment. I can't get out. He has two men on the door."

"I don't know if he's insane or brilliant locking you up. You need to figure this out with him."

He hung up on me. Now who could I call. Lula's the only one that would have been up for breaking me out without asking to many questions. If I call anyone else I'll get the Spanish inquisition.

I called Ranger again.

"Yo" He answered.

"You locked me in your apartment."

"Babe." He said and hung up on me.

I am drained. My emotions are all over the place. I don't know what I want from Ranger. I just know I don't want to be a girl he sends a check to every month like Rachel. I need to think. Of course I can't use my normal thinking position anymore. I usually lay sprawled out on my stomach. I went to the bathroom and laid down on Ranger's bed.

Hmm. I guess if I'm here I could change. I grabbed one of Rangers t-shirts and changed into it. I slid in between the sheets. I don't know why but I always feel better when I lay in Ranger's bed. His thousand count sheets feel heavenly. The only thing that could be better was if Ranger was holding me. I shouldn't have thought of that, because it started my crying episode again.

I woke up to Ranger sliding into bed. "Go back to sleep it's late." He pulled me close to him, and put his arm around me cradling my stomach. I cried myself back to sleep.

I woke up and the sun was streaming through the window. I could hear voices out in the living room. I went to take a shower. I really don't want to face anyone. I looked in the dressing room to see if I could find anything that fit, so I could go down to work. To say I was shocked is an understatement. All of my clothes from my apartment were hanging up on one side, and all of Ranger's things was on the other. I sat down on the bench. I am so not going to cry I kept telling myself.

After some deep breathing to get myself under control I found some black sweats and a Rangeman shirt. I needed a bra and underwear. I went over to Ranger's dresser. One side was filled with my stuff. I grabbed a bra, a pair of underwear, and black socks quickly. I so do not want to think about all my stuff being here.

I walked into the kitchen. Ella had left a nice pot of tea for me, some oatmeal and fruit. I guess Ranger told her no sweets. I sat down at the counter to eat. I knew Ranger was in the other room watching me, but I couldn't dare look at him.

I finished eating and rinsed my dishes to put in the dishwasher. I walked towards the door to go down to work. I felt Ranger come up behind me.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

It's Thursday, I was going to work if that's OK with you." I spat out. I know I shouldn't bait him like this, but he pissed me off.

"No you need to wait. Your personal bodyguard should be here in a few minutes." Wait hold the phone, did he just say bodyguard?

I spun around to yell at him. He and backed me into the wall. His body was barely skimming mine. I was pissed off and turned on at the same time. Ranger lowered his head and whispered in my ear.

"You will not go anywhere without a bodyguard, and if you try to lose her you will be sorry." What did he say. He kissed me and any coherent thought I had was lost. We were interrupted by a knock on the door. I was happy because my body was betraying me. Hey I haven't had sex in three months, I have raging pregnancy hormones, and Ranger is irresistible.

Ranger opened the door and if I wasn't leaning against the wall I would have fallen down. Standing there in an all black Rangeman uniform was none other than Lula.


	2. Chapter 2

Ranger opened the door and if I wasn't leaning against the wall I would have fallen down. Standing there in an all black Rangeman uniform was none other than Lula.

Chapter 2

"Lula I'll let you talk to Stephanie." Ranger said.

"Wait Ranger. Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?" I yelled at him.

Ranger grabbed my arm and pulled me back to the bedroom shutting the door after we entered. He backed me up to the wall. He was standing inches from me, and to say he was pissed off is an understatement.

"You want to know what's going on. You are pregnant with my children. You constantly put yourself in danger. You are impulsive. You runaway instead of dealing with life. Lula will be your personal bodyguard. She will go everywhere you go, and I do mean everywhere. If I am not with you she will be. You will also have two of my men with you anytime you leave the building. If you do not cooperate with Lula I will bring in Jeanne Ellen to replace her. Do I make myself clear Stephanie."

Ranger didn't yell at me, but if there was ever a time I was afraid of him it was now. He said everything to me in a cold, firm voice. He meant business. I wanted to argue, but I knew now was clearly not the time.

Ranger opened the door, took my hand in his, and walked out to the living room like nothing was wrong.

"Stephanie once you and Lula are done talking you need to show her how to run the search engines."

Ranger kissed me on my forehead and walked out of the apartment. I was in shock. I sat down on the couch. I am locked up in one of the most secure buildings in the country, and I don't know of anyone who will help me get out. Lula sat down on the couch next to me. We sat there for ten good minutes before she started talking.

"Girl I need you to hear me out before you say anything. I won't get into why you didn't tell me you were pregnant. Let alone pregnant with Batman's baby." "Lula" I interrupted her.

"No Steph I need to say this and you need to listen."

"OK." I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes.

"Ranger called me and said he had a job offer. When he told me you were pregnant and he wanted me to be your bodyguard I didn't know what to say. I know when we go out we'll have his men with us too, but he trusts me to protect you Steph. That man is the shit, and he trusts me. He's going to train me to do office work, give me an apartment, a company car, and pay me more than I ever imagined making.

Do you understand what that means to me. Even though I don't do tricks anymore, I live just a couple streets away from Stark. I don't make much working for Vinnie. I have a chance to have a career here. In the office. Now I don't have to run after drug dealers or work for that slimy duck screwing cousin of yours. No offense. I know you like to run from your bodyguards, but I need this job. Half the girls I used to work with are either dead or strung out on crack. Please don't mess this up for me. White girl we can have a lot of fun together. Will you just give it a shot?

I don't think I ever heard Lula so serious. What do I do now. If I get her in trouble she could lose her job. This is a good job for her, hell this is a good job for me. I can kinda see why Ranger hired her to babysit me, but I'm surprised that he hired her to run searches too. I know I would like having Lula with me. At least I'd have one person in the building I can talk to, and there is no way I'm letting Jeanne Ellen anywhere near my babies or Ranger.

"Lula you know none of this is easy for me, but I'll try not to mess this up for you." I gave her a hug.

"I guess we should get to work." I told her.

Lula and I went down to five. My cubicle was rearranged. It was much wider, there were two desks now and two computers.

"I guess we're sharing the cubicle and work." I smiled at her weakly.

Lula didn't have much computer experience. I showed her the basics, and then showed her how to do basic searches. She caught on fairly quickly and I was quite impressed. I found myself smiling. We took a break at noon to eat lunch. I wasn't up to dealing with the guys if I didn't have to, and I surely did not want to deal with Ranger.

I saw Ella and asked if she could bring lunch up to seven for Lula and I. Lula went back upstairs with me.

"So this is the batcave?" She whistled.

"This is his apartment, but I don't know where the batcave is." I said grabbing two bottles of water out of the fridge for us.

"Huh. Well your living with Batman and having his babies. Damn why didn't you tell me you slept with him?"

I was saved from having to answer when Ella walked in with lunch. She put a huge tray down on the table.

"Let me know if you need anything else dear. It's good seeing you again Lula."

After Ella left Lula and I sat down to eat.

"So when did you meet Ella?" I asked her.

"Ranger had me come here last night. He offered me the job and had his men move all of my stuff here."

"You gave up your apartment?" I asked.

"Girl why would I need that hole in the wall if I have an apartment here?"

I didn't answer her. I chose to eat.

After lunch Lula and I went back downstairs. She did all the preliminary searches, and I did all the in-depth ones. I figured tomorrow I could show her how to use one of the other search engines.

At five we turned off our computers.

"Lula can you take me to my apartment?" I asked her.

"Sure girl let's go upstairs." She said.

"Um I meant my apartment not Rangers." The last time I saw Lula pale was after she saw that chef get his head chopped off. I hadn't seen Ranger since this morning, but of course he chose that moment to walk up to us.

"Lula I'll call if your needed, otherwise your off for the night." He told her.

Lula made a hasty exit. Ranger put his hand in the middle of my back and guided me towards the elevator.

I went to the bathroom and took a bath. I think I stayed in there for an hour. Ranger knocked on the door.

"Dinner's ready." I didn't want to answer him, but I knew he would come in if I didn't. Locked doors mean nothing to him.

"I'll be out in a minute." I got out of tub and put on shorts and a tank top.

I tried not to look at him while we ate, but the silence was killing me. I couldn't take it anymore.

"When can I go back to my apartment?"

Ranger raised his eyebrow. "How is Lula doing with the searches?" He asked me.

"She's a quick learner. She's doing the preliminary searches. I was going to show her how to do some of the more in-depth ones tomorrow. I think she'll be really good. I don't think it will take more than a week or two for her to learn everything."

Ranger smiled at me. Damn he had changed the subject and I didn't even realize it.

"About my apartment." I started to ask again. Ranger got up and took our plates into the kitchen. He washed them off, putting them in the dishwasher. I walked in after him and waited.

"You can't keep me here forever." I told him. Ranger turned around and stalked towards me. I backed up against the wall.

"I can and I will." He walked away, turned the TV on and sat down on the couch. I wasn't sure if should push him any further tonight. I went into the bedroom and called Joe.

"Hey it's me."

"Did you work everything out?" He asked.

"Um no." I know real eloquent. Joe sighed.

"You need to work things out. I got to go." He hung up on me.

I called Mary Lou.

"Hey Steph. What's up?"

"Where do I start Lou?"

"That bad huh?"

"I don't know if it could get any worse. I'm pregnant." There was quite a pause as she was pondering what I said.

"How far along are you?" She asked.

"I'm three months, and before you ask, no it's not Joe's. There's more I'm having twins."

"Wow Steph. Why didn't you tell me sooner? Never mind. Is Ranger the father?"

"Yeah. He was out of town for the past three months and just got back. When I told him he went all caveman on me and locked me up in his apartment."

"You mean you can't go out?" She asked.

"He hired Lula to be my personal bodyguard, and said I would also have two of his men with me when ever I went out."

"I don't see the problem." Did I just hear her wrong how could she not understand. Maybe the kids distracted her.

"Lou I said that he's forcing me to live with him, and I can't go out without bodyguards."

"I know your upset Steph, but you need to look at it from his point of view. You are pregnant with his baby. Not only one baby but two. You lived in an apartment that everyone broke into. Hell even your grandma could break into it. You attract psychos and stalkers, and you've had more cars blown up on than the mob has." I thought Mary Lou would always be on my side.

"I am on your side." Lou said. I guess I said that out loud.

"Stephanie Ranger loves you. He's trying to protect you and his babies. It's time to grow up. Your going to be a mother in a couple months. You need to do what's best for your children. Hey put that down! Sorry Steph I've got to go, the boys are fighting." I could hear the screaming in the background, and then the line went dead.

So much for Mary Lou being on my side. I walked out to the kitchen to grab a water. I peaked in the living room to see what Ranger was doing.

"Hey girl you going to come out and keep me company?" Lula asked.

"Sure. Um where's Ranger?"

"He got a call and had to go. He asked me to stay till he got back." It still boggles my mind that Lula is working for Ranger.

"What"s on TV?" I asked trying to change the subject. I'm not mad at Lula, and I know it would be easier if we just pretended she's not here to babysit me.

"Let's see. There's that movie with Tom Hanks, some horror movie, and a bunch of reality shows."

"What's the Tom Hanks movie?" I didn't know she even liked Tom Hanks.

"You've Got Mail. It's got that Meg Ryan in it too. Remember she used to be married to Don Johnson. I don't know why she let go of that fine man. Some girls are so dumb."

"Um Lula, Meg Ryan wasn't married to Don Johnson that was Melanie Griffith."

"Huh well that man was seriously hot and that girl was dumb. Hey did I tell you Tank wants to have dinner with me. I was thinking I could take allergy medicine so his cats won't bother me."

"That's great Lula. You and Tank were great together. I hope it works out for you." We stopped talking to watch the movie.

I was being carried when I woke up. I looked up into Ranger's face and smiled sleepily. He is so damn handsome. When he laid me down on the bed I reached up and touched his face. He leaned closer and kissed me. The next thing I knew we were both naked and Ranger's fingers were working their magic. I knew I should stop him, but I couldn't. We made love and he was so gentle and loving with me. Neither of us spoke during or after. He just pulled me snug up to his side and I fell asleep.

For the first time in months I slept peacefully. I woke up and Ranger was gone. He left a note on the nightstand for me.

I have a meeting in Newark.

Lula will be up at 8:30 to have breakfast with you.

I'll be back to take you to the doctor's.

R.

I guess I don't have to worry about having an awkward morning with him. The clock read 7:56. I need to get up and get ready. Lula was waiting for me at the table when I came out of the bedroom.

"Morning Lula."

"Girl if I didn't know better I'd say you got some of that fine Ranger loving last night." My face must have given it away, because Lula shot up out of her chair. Who knew she could move that fast.

"You did!" She yelled at me. "See I knew it would all be fine. That is one damn fine man you've got."

"Lula nothing is OK. Ranger and I haven't talked about any of this, and as you see I'm still locked up."

"Well that man could lock me up any day." She told me.

We sat down to eat. Ella had made whole wheat pancakes, and brought fresh fruit. Lula was even moaning. The food was that good.

"You ready to go down to work?" I asked Lula.

"Let's go pregnant white girl." Lula said.

Tank was waiting for the elevator when we exited on five.

"Morning ladies." He said winking at Lula.

"Morning Tank." I said and went over my cubby. Lula stayed back and talked to Tank. She was smiling ear to ear when she got back.

"So what did Tank say to put that smile on your face?"

"We're going to meet later for lunch or dinner." I think her smile got even bigger.

"Just lunch or dinner?" I asked jokingly.

"Girl your one to talk." She had her hand on her hip. "You aren't even talking to Batman, but your living and sleeping with him."

Hmm, she has a point.

We got down to work. I showed her how to do a newspaper search. She was busy looking into a file when I got up to go to the bathroom.

"Girl where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm just going to the bathroom." I walked over to the bathroom and saw Lula was following me.

"I think I can go to the bathroom alone." I told her. I didn't even realize yesterday when she followed me everywhere. I figured she was trying to see where everything was.

"I already told you I have my orders girl. Are you going to give me a hard time on this?" I rolled my eyes. Ranger expects her to follow me like a puppy, then it's fine with me. Well it's fine till I can get him alone and give him a piece of my mind.

My appointment was at one. Ranger got back at 11:30. "Lula you can take the rest of the day off. I'll call if we need you." He told her. She made a hasty exit. I could see her pulling out her phone to call Tank. I was happy for them. I looked into Ranger's eyes and my smile was gone.

He guided me over to the elevator again. As soon as we entered the apartment I started.

"You know I can walk myself. I don't need you to make sure I don't stray. Can you tell me why I can't go to the bathroom by myself? Lula had to follow me in like a dog."

"The first chance you got you would take off." He said and went to change.

He came back out wearing a pair of Guess jeans and a blue polo shirt. The jeans were snug in the butt, but baggy in the legs. I had to check for drool. He smirked at me. Damn him he's HOT and he knows it too.

Ella brought up chicken Caesar salads for lunch. We ate in silence. By the time we finished it was just about time to go. I went to the bathroom, then touched up my make-up. I needed a couple extra swipes of mascara. I came back out and Ranger raised his eyebrow at me.

"Don't you want to change?" He asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "You see I'm pregnant and none of my clothes fit."

"Then we'll have to take you to get new ones." He kissed my head and grabbed my hand. I want to hate him, I really do.

When we arrived at the doctor's office Ranger checked me in as Stephanie Manoso, and the receptionist said it would only be a few minutes. They didn't even say anything about the name. We took our seats and I leaned in close to him.

"My last name is Plum." I whispered to him.

"We will not discuss this here." He replied.

"Stephanie Manoso." The nurse called out.

We stood and went back to the exam room.

"You don't have to undress today. All you need to do is make sure your shirt is pulled up exposing your whole stomach, and push your pants down the same way. The doctor should be right in." She walked into the door when she went to leave. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have to do that?" I asked Ranger.

"Babe?"

"You smiled at her, and she got all flustered." His lip tilted up in an almost smirk.

"Good afternoon Stephanie. Carlos I'm Dr. Philips. I believe we spoke on the phone." Ranger shook Dr. Philips hand.

The Dr. squirted some gel on my stomach.

"That's cold." I whined.

"Sorry about that." She said. "Lets take a look."

Ranger moved to the other side of the table and took my hand.

She gently pressed the wand over my stomach, and images appeared on the screen.

"I see two amniotic sacs. The twins will be fraternal." She zeroed in and showed us the sacs, printing out a picture of them.

"Now lets take a look at each baby. We'll call them baby A, and baby B." She did a close up of baby A. "Here's the head." She circle it. "Here's the spinal cord, it's arms, and legs." She printed out a picture and marked it baby A.

"Now lets take a look at baby B." She went through the same process. "We won't be able to tell sexes till your about 20 weeks. Everything looks good. We should schedule your next appointment for three weeks from today. The next one after that we'll do another ultrasound, and we can tell you the genders if you would like." She handed me a towel to wipe off the gel. She handed Ranger the pictures and a dvd of the ultrasound.

"Is it OK for Stephanie to travel?" Ranger asked the doctor.

"Since she's having twins, during the last three months I would like her to stay within an hour travel time of the hospital. Barring no complications arise, she should be fine to travel up to that point."

"Thank you." He told her and shook her hand.

I adjusted my clothes and went out to make my next appointment. Ranger beat me to it. We walked out to the car, and he opened the door for me. He took out his cell phone and made some calls.

"Book the flight for the four of us tomorrow morning."

"Wait I am not going anywhere!" I yelled at him. I have no idea where he thinks he's taking me. And I don't care. Ranger closed his phone and pulled the car into the back of nearest parking lot. I could see him trying to get his breathing under control.

"We will be going to Vegas tomorrow." He said with venom in his voice. "I will not have my children born without a father." I had to think of something fast. I so did not want to get railroaded into marriage.

"I can't get married in Vegas. My mother would disown me if I don't get married in the Catholic Church." I blurted out. Ranger sighed, and pulled his phone back out.

"Cancel the flight. Change in plans." He disconnected, and made a series of calls after that. This time he spoke in Spanish to all the people he called. I had no idea who he was talking to, so I leaned back and closed my eyes. At least I didn't have to worry about him kidnapping me and taking me to Las Vegas.

He started the car and I opened my eyes when he turned it off. I looked up and noticed we were at the mall.

"Why are we at the mall?" I asked.

Ranger shook his head like he was dealing with a child. "To Shop." He replied.

We went into Macy's and Ranger led me over to the maternity section. He started grabbing all kinds of clothes off the racks and nudged me towards the dressing room. "Model them for me." He winked at me.

I hate him right now, but damn he's hot when he winks. I came out modeling the pants, shirts, and dresses. Ranger would grab a different size for me when something was too big. He insisted on paying and I figured I have to argue with him about everything else I guess I would let this slide. Ranger carried all the bags out to the car. He refused to let me carry any of them.

"I should have gotten more black clothes for work." I thought out loud while we were driving.

"Ella ordered some new clothes for you." Ranger told me. I should have known she would take care of them. I guess I should have asked her, but I never thought about it.

Ranger's phone rang, and he spoke in Spanish again. About the only thing I could make out was thank you, and I think he said I'll see you tomorrow. I wasn't paying attention to where we were going. Ranger pulled up in front of my parent's house.

"Why are we at my parent's?"

"Your mother is expecting us." He smiled at me.

"You talked to my mother?" Ranger looked at me gave me one of his barely there nods. Oh shit. Now I have to tell my mom I'm pregnant. Not only that I'm pregnant, but with twins, and I'm not married. Why me?


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you to everyone that R&R on the last 2 chapters. This one is a bit shorter, but explains some of Ranger's actions.

"You talked to my mother?" Ranger looked at me gave me one of his barely there nods. Oh shit. Now I have to tell my mom I'm pregnant. Not only that I'm pregnant, but with twins and I'm not married. Why me?

Chapter 3

My mom was waiting at the door for us. I guess there was no way to get out of this now. We walked up the sidewalk to the door, and Ranger took my hand and squeezed it. I know he was trying to tell me everything would be alright, but I am still upset with him.

"Stephanie, Carlos please come in. Frank is in the family room. Can I get you something to drink?" My mother smiled at Ranger. World War Four could be going on outside and my mother would still have her burg manners.

"No thank you Mrs. Plum." Ranger answered with a smile.

"Where's grandma?" I asked looking around.

"It's Friday she's at the Cut-N-Curl having her hair done." My mom replied.

My dad turned off the TV and walked over to shake Ranger's hand. "Good to see you son." He told Ranger. I don't know what planet they're living on. My mom is being all sweet to Ranger, and my father just called him son. He would just grunt when Joe came over, and he shakes his head in disbelief at Albert.

"Good to see you too Mr. Plum." Ranger replied shaking my dad's hand.

"None of this Mr. Plum stuff. I told you to call me Frank."

We all sat down on the couch. Ranger held my hand. It was comforting even though I knew I should be mad at him.

My mom was staring at me. "Is something wrong Stephanie?" Hmm I guess being an unmarried 33-year-old pregnant girl from the burg will definitely be wrong in her book. How can I tell them.

"I'm pregnant. With twins. Three months pregnant and Ranger's the father." I blurted out.

My dad smiled. I couldn't believe it, he actually smiled. My mom was not smiling. She was being very quiet.

After a few minutes my mother spoke. "Will you be getting married?"

"No." I said, but I was cut off by Ranger.

"I just found out Mrs. Plum. I wanted to take Stephanie to Las Vegas, but she insisted we were married in the Catholic Church. We have an appointment with Father Giuseppe at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark tomorrow evening."

My mother smiled. "We don't have much time to plan. You will have to get married quickly before Stephanie starts showing. Would there be a problem with that?"

"No problem at all. Father Giuseppe is my father's second cousin. If everything goes OK, he will marry us tomorrow evening at the church. I apologize for not being able to have a proper wedding, but I think it would be best if were married right away. We can always have a reception in a month so both families can get together and meet each other."

I was feeling nauseous. My mother seemed pacified with his response, and my father nodded his head like it made all the sense in the world. I stood up.

"I need to go to the bathroom." I said walking over to the steps. I went up to the bathroom. I actually did have to go. Then I washed my face, and sat down on lid of the toilet trying to process everything that was happening. How could I marry Ranger? I know my heart would never be able to handle the divorce. I have no idea how Rachel did it, but I guess that was different. She wasn't in love with him.

When I came downstairs only my father was waiting. "Sit down pumpkin." He told me.

"Where's mom and Ranger?" I was very confused.

"Your mom had to go pick up your grandma, and Ranger got a phone call he had to take. He's right outside the door."

"Oh." I had a tissue in my hand, and I was pulling at it nervously.

"I need to tell you something Pumpkin." My dad said. I nodded my head.

"I know your scared, but I have never seen someone care more about you like Ranger has. He's always the first one to appear when something happens. He has always supported you, even when you would run off and do something stupid. Hell he even puts up with grandma trying to grab him." My dad visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Do you love him?" He asked me.

"Yes dad, but he never asked me to marry him. He just packed all of my stuff up and locked me in his apartment. Now I'm just supposed to do whatever he says." I started to cry.

My dad sat down next to me. "I'm going to tell you something that I probably shouldn't." I looked up at him, and nodded for him to continue.

"On Wednesday morning Ranger came over here. He said he was out-of-town, and had just gotten back. He said he had wasted a lot of time. He told me he loved you, and asked if I would give my blessing to him taking your hand in marriage. He said if you would have him, he would love you for the rest of your lives. He loves you Pumpkin. I don't know what he's told you, but I'm sure it came as a shock to find out that you were pregnant with twins. He's trying to make it right."

"He never said anything to me dad, and why is he locking me up?" I asked.

My dad looked up and Ranger was standing there watching us. He had a pained expression on his face.

"You need to ask him." My father whispered.

"Something came up. We need to get back to the office." Ranger said.

My dad gave me a hug and shook Ranger's hand. Ranger seemed to be on high alert while we walked to the car. There was a black SUV behind our car. Ranger opened the door for me, and waited till I was in before closing it and walking around to get in.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. Ranger gave me one of his barely there nods.

"Ranger you have to talk to me. I can't take this anymore." He looked like was trying to decide what to say to me.

"Wednesday Ricky Mendez escaped from prison. I helped put him away in Miami last year. He swore he would get revenge on me and Rangeman. I just got a call that he was seen in New York. I need to get you back to Rangeman. It's either that or safe house. I have to keep you safe."

He was holding my hand the whole time he told me.

"When did you find out?"

"Right after I left your parent's house on Wednesday." He told me kissing my hand.

We pulled into the garage and Ranger rode up to seven with me. He opened the apartment door and pulled me into hug. God it felt good to be held in his arms. I missed this more than I thought was possible.

After a minute Ranger spoke. "I have to go downstairs. Do you want Lula to come up and keep you company?"

"I'll be fine." I told him.

"Don't go crazy babe." I looked up into his eyes. "Don't get shot." I said.

His mouth came crashing down on mine. When the kiss ended we were both affected. Ranger rested his head on top of mine, waiting till his breathing went back to normal. This time he gave me a quick kiss and was gone.

I was tired so I went to lay down. I really need to think about everything that happened today. My spidey sense was tingling about something that happened. Let's see. Hmm. I went to work, ate lunch with Ranger. He took me to my doctor's appointment, and held my hand most of the time. He had already talked to the doctor so he knew everything. He has the pictures and DVD, I need to ask him where they are.

Hmm. He wanted to take me to Vegas to get married. We went shopping for maternity clothes. Even though all of that is something I still need to ponder none of that is what is setting me off. It has to be when were at my parents. My dad said that Ranger came to ask him for his blessing. Wait that's it. Oh my God. Ranger was at my parent's house Wednesday morning. I was still at work. I left right after lunch. I went to the doctor's office, and was home around three.

Ranger talked to my father before he new I was pregnant. He wanted to marry me. He told my father that he loved me. I love Ranger with all of my heart. To be honest I've loved him since before Joe and I even got together. I was just too scared to admit it. Now the question is do I want to marry Ranger? Will he still want to be married to me after I have the babies?


	4. Chapter 4

Ranger talked to my father before he new I was pregnant. He wanted to marry me. He told my father that he loved me. I love Ranger with all of my heart. To be honest I've loved him since before Joe and I even got together. I was just too scared to admit it. Now the question is do I want to marry Ranger? Will he still want to be married to me after I have the babies?

Chapter 4

Around seven I woke up and ran to the bathroom getting sick. I thought my morning sickness was over, but during the past few days I've felt queasy. I was leaning against the wall of the bathroom when Ranger walked in.

"Babe?" He rushed over to me.

"I'm fine." I reached up and flushed the toilet. Ranger went to get me a washcloth. He washed my face, then picked me up off the floor and carried me over to the bed. He climbed in with me and held me.

"You look pale. Are you sure your OK? Is there something wrong with the babies?" He sounded very nervous which is weird because Ranger doesn't do nervous.

"It's just morning sickness. It can happen anytime of the day. I took a nap and must have sat up to soon when I got out of bed." It felt too good to have his arms around me.

"Is there anything I can get you? Crackers maybe? Ella brought dinner up, but I can make you some soup." Ranger was babbling. OK he wasn't babbling, but for him it was.

"Some tea would be nice. I just need to rest a few minutes. If I wait a half an hour I might be able to eat. Can you just hold me?" Ranger tightened his hold on me, and he rested his head against mine.

I must have dozed off because Ranger was handing me a cup of tea.

"Thanks." I took the cup drinking it slowly. Ranger had climbed back in bed with me, leaning me up against his chest while I drank the tea. He had his arm around me, and his hand was resting on my stomach. It was an intimate moment that I didn't want to end. When I finished the tea, Ranger took the cup from me and set it down on the nightstand.

"Do you want to eat dinner in bed?" He asked.

"No, but is it OK if we eat on the couch?" I wanted to get out of bed. It felt was too good leaning up against him, and still haven't figured everything out.

"We can eat anywhere you want." Ranger picked me up to carry me into the living room.

"I can walk."

"I like carrying you." He said kissing my forehead.

He gently laid me down on the couch. He brought me out some chicken noodle soup and crackers.

"I had Ella defrost some of her homemade soup." I could have eaten regular food, but it was really sweet of him and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. Ranger sat down and ate a salad. When we finished he took everything out to kitchen. I heard him opening cabinets. "Have you taken your prenatal vitamin today?" He called out to me.

I stood up to walk into the kitchen. "I completely forgot about them. They're back at my apartment." I started to panic.

"I had everything brought over. They're in the cabinet over here." Ranger said opening the door of the cabinet to show me. They were right next his vitamins and protein shake mix. "I should have told you where everything was. Let me know if you can't find anything else and I'll show you where it is. Some of your stuff is boxed up."

"Um what kind of stuff is boxed up?" My clothes are all in his closet, Rex is on the counter, all of my toiletries are in his bathroom.

"Everything from your kitchen, your towels, books stuff like that. I thought you might want to go through the boxes before we give the stuff to charity." Wait did he mean everything in my apartment.

"What is left at my apartment?" He wasn't answering. "Ranger!"

"Babe." I was getting worked up.

"Don't Babe me. Answer the question."

"Nothing." he said quietly.

I was feeling light headed, trying to process what that meant. Ranger caught me just before I fell down. He carried me over to the couch and held me in his arms. I tried to push him away, but he held me tighter.

"You live here now, you don't need your apartment anymore." He was speaking quietly again.

"What am I going to do after I have the babies? Where am I going to live?"

"We can buy a house if you want. We'll need a bigger place and a yard for the kids."

"What am I supposed to do with a big house when you divorce me? I can't take care of a house and two babies." I was getting emotional. I do not want to cry in front of him again. I do not want his pity.

"I am **never** going to divorce you. We will be married tomorrow, and we will **stay** married." Ranger's phone rang, and I if I didn't know better I could have sworn he cursed.

"Talk. No. No. I'll be right down. I'm sorry I have to take care of this. It might take awhile, don't wait up for me." He kissed the top of my head and left.

Damn that phone of his! What did he mean by he was never going to divorce me. He still hasn't told me he wants to marry me. He said we will be married. He gave me no choice in the matter at all. I have too many questions that I need him to answer. Every time we actually do talk he gets called away. It's so darn frustrating.

I got up to grab Ghost Busters. All of my movies were in the case next to Rangers. I went over to the stereo, and sure enough all of my Cd's were there too. I walked back over and grabbed the movie putting it in. There was too much to think about. I needed to veg out.

When I woke up Ranger was carrying me to bed again. He grabbed one of his t-shirts for me, and I changed into it. Ranger went to take a shower. I was almost asleep when he slipped into bed, pulling me snug up against him.

"Why do you want to marry me?" I asked.

"It's late, your tired. Go to sleep, we can talk about it in the morning." I guess it could wait to morning, I was too tired to deal with everything right now anyways.

"I love you." Ranger said kissing my head.

"I love you too." I said drifting off to sleep.

The next morning Ranger greeted me with tea and ginger cookies. "There's a slight change in plans today." He said, handing me the tea. I sat up slowly reaching for the cup.

"What now?" I asked.

"We need to go to the church this morning to meet with Father Giuseppe. It seems he wants to meet with us before he'll agree to marry us tonight. The only time he can is at eleven. We need to leave in hour. Why don't you take a shower. Breakfast will be waiting for you when you come out."

I went to shower. He still hasn't told me why he wants to marry me. Wait. Last night he said he loved me. It was the first time he said it without a qualifier. Even though he's Ranger's cousin, I don't think a priest will marry us if I say I don't want to. The question is do I want to.

My new maternity clothes were hanging up in the closet. I barely needed them, but my clothes didn't fit anymore. I'm sure in a few months I will have to buy bigger sizes. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a cute long-sleeved blue top that Ranger seemed to like.

I followed my nose to the wonderful smell in the kitchen. Ella made me Belgian waffles with strawberries and whip cream. There was a big glass of orange juice and my prenatal vitamin. Ranger was in his office. After I ate I went in to see what he was doing.

"What's in the envelope?" Ranger was holding an 8x10 manilla envelope.

"Documents." The man of one word answers said.

"What kind of documents?"

"Our divorce papers, annulment, marriage license." Wait did he say marriage license.

"When did we get a marriage license? Don't I have to sign it to before they'll issue one?"

"I went yesterday morning. You did sign the paper."

"When?" I asked.

"On Thursday. It was with the insurance papers you had to sign." He is sneaky. I knew I should have read everything. I was busy showing Lula something on the computer when Tank came over with the papers. He said I needed to sign them, he had stuff for Lula to sign too. I didn't pay attention.

I shook my head at him and walked away. I knew that yelling at him would do no good. I was standing at the window, looking out at the town below us. Ranger came up behind me and put his arms around me. "It's time to go." He said.

Lester, Bobby, Tank and Lula were waiting for us in the garage. It looked like we were going to have an entourage. We took three separate vehicles. I was surprised when Ranger led me over to one of the SUV's instead of one of his personal cars. He used his esp.

"If Mendez is around he won't know which one we're in." I nodded that I understood.

Ranger was in zone, and I was starting to freak out. He took my hand, kissed it and placed it on his lap with his. I wanted to ask him so many questions, but I was afraid I might not like his answers.

Ranger and I went over to the rectory. Everyone else was watching the church, rectory, and vehicles.

Ranger guided me through the doors into his cousin's office. The door to his office was open. His cousin bore a slight resemblance to Ranger. He was tall, nice looking, a little soft in the middle, but you could tell he had a peaceful presence.

"Carlos." He said standing from his seat. He cam over to shake Ranger's hand.

"Pepe." You look good. This is my Babe, Stephanie."

"Stephanie. It wonderful to meet you. You are even more beautiful than I was told." He winked at me. I've never had a priest wink at me.

"Thank you Father. It's nice to meet you too." I said shaking his outstretched hand.

"Nonsense. We're going to be family, call me Pepe." He said pulling me into a hug. I could tell Ranger didn't like the friendliness of his cousin.

Pepe sat back down behind the desk. Ranger and I sat down in the two chairs in front of it.

"Do you have the marriage license?" He asked. Ranger handed him the envelope with all the documents. Pepe took them out and scanned them over.

"Everything seems to be in order. I understand your situation, and I have no problem marrying you tonight. If you want to set up flowers or have anything sent in do it after five. We have a four o'clock mass. Is seven good for the wedding?

"That will be fine." Ranger answered. I needed to say something.

"That doesn't work for me." Ranger looked over at me. I could tell he didn't want me to say anything else, but I was not going to get railroaded into marrying him.

"I will not be forced to marry you because I'm pregnant." I blurted out.

"Carlos can you please give me and Stephanie a few minutes. I would like to talk to her in private."

"No I don't think that's necessary." Ranger spoke. I knew he was angry.

"If you want me to marry you, you will go out into the foyer." Ranger looked at me. I thought I saw sadness on his face, but his blank face slammed down. He left the room and closed the door.

"Now that we're alone you can speak freely. Anything you say to me is in confidence, and it will not be repeated. I have a few questions. Are you pregnant?"

"Yes, with twins."

"I don't mean to offend you, but I must ask this next question. Is Carlos the father?"

"Yes, he is." My voice was shaky.

"Do you love him?"

"With all my heart." I answered honestly.

"Can you please explain why you don't want to marry him?"

"I do want to marry Ran-Carlos. That's not the problem." He motioned for me to continue.

"Carlos never asked me to marry him. He just told me I had to. I've been married before, and I do not want to go through a second divorce."

"What makes you think this marriage would end in divorce?" He asked.

"Carlos divorced Rachel after she had Julie."

"You think he might do that to you? I shook my head yes. "Hmm. I'm going to ask Carlos to come in to talk to you. When you are done talking I will come back in. If you still feel that you don't want to be married I will not perform the ceremony." He left the room. I sat there a few minutes before I noticed that Ranger was sitting down next to me again.

He had a pained expression on his face. "You don't want to marry me?" He asked.

"It's not that. I don't want to get divorced again." I barely whispered.

"I have no intention of divorcing you Stephanie."

"What about the babies?" I asked. "I didn't think you wanted any more children."

"I was shocked when I found out that you were pregnant. At the time, when I said I wouldn't do anything stupid like marriage and children I was at a different place. I was still under contract for the government. My contract is over now. I fulfilled the last of it this summer, when I was training. Anything I do now is on my terms.

I want nothing more than to marry you. I had every intention of asking you when I got back. I love you and our unborn children." I didn't realize I was crying till Ranger handed me a tissue.

"You never asked me to marry you. You just told me we were going to get married."

"I did a lot of things wrong Babe. I know you think I'm Batman, but I'm just a man. I'm far from perfect."

Ranger got down on one knee. He pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket. He was looking into my eyes. He opened the box, but I couldn't take my eyes away from his face.

"Stephanie I love you. I love our children that you are carrying." He put his hand on my stomach. "Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes Ranger I will. I love you." He placed the ring on my finger, stood up and spun me around. "I love you." He said before his mouth came crashing down on mine.

When we broke away from the kiss we heard commotion outside the door. Ranger rushed out with his gun drawn. I heard Tank, Bobby, and Lester laughing. I stepped out of the room. Lula was standing over Hal with a stun gun in her hand. Ranger was shaking his head.

"What happened?" I asked. Clearly I had missed something.

"I saw this guy walking around the building. He looked suspicious so I followed him. He was trying all the doors. When he opened the door and stepped in I stunned him. I was not going to let him get to your skinny white ass and the bat babies." Lula looked proud of herself.

"Lula you do know that's Hal?" I asked.

"Huh, Now that you say it does kind of look like him. How was I supposed to know. He's not wearing his uniform, and you know that all of them dang white boys look alike." She said.

Now everyone was laughing, even Pepe.

Lula was looking at me and her eyes bugged out. "Girl that's one huge rock you be sporting." I hadn't even taken the time to look at ring. I looked over to Ranger in shock. I had a three carat princess cut solitaire set in white gold.

"Damn you did good Batman." Lula said to Ranger.

Ranger came up behind me, putting his hands around my waist. He whispered in my ear. "We can get a bigger one if you want." I turned around and kissed him.

We heard a bunch of throats clearing. Bobby was leaning over a pissed off Hal. Pepe led us back to his office.

"I have to ask this again Stephanie. Do you want to marry Carlos?" He asked smiling.

"Yes, I do. Thank you Pepe." I answered.

When we got back to SUV Ranger's phone rang. "Mama. Yes. No. No. But. Yes Mama. Fine. We'll be there in five." Ranger hung his head.

"We have to go to my parent's house. Seems like someone saw us and called my mother."


	5. Chapter 5

"We have to go to my parent's house. Seems like someone saw us and called my mother."

Chapter 5

"What do you mean that someone called your mother?" I asked confused.

"I should have known it was a ruse to get us to come here in the day time. Pepe wouldn't tell anyone we were going to be here, but he knew someone would see us." Ranger said shaking his head in disgust at being outsmarted by a priest.

"I still don't understand how he knew someone would see us and call your mother." I wasn't following his thought process.

"Babe do remember when I brought you to the neighborhood where I grew up?"

"Yes, that was when we were trying to find Scrog." I hated thinking about that time in my life. I thought I was going to lose Ranger when he stepped into my apartment. After he was repeatedly shot I went into shock. They almost had to sedate me.

"We're only a few minutes from there. My grandma attends mass daily here." Ranger said pointing back to the church. "This isn't to far off from the Burg. When I was a child my mother always knew what happened before I made it home. The gossip network is similar to what you've had to deal with, the only difference is they look out for their own here."

I thought about what he told me while he called Tank and Lester to tell them we were stopping at his parents. Minutes later we pulled up in front of a large three-story arts and crafts style house. The lawn was well manicured and there was a statue of the Virgin Mary in the flower bed.

Ranger reluctantly exited the car and came around to open the door for me. He took my hand and kissed it playing with the ring on my finger. We walked up the walkway and the door opened as if on cue. A plump, short, middle-aged, pretty woman stood waiting for us.

"Isn't everyone coming in?" I asked looking at the other suv's.

"No they're to chicken to deal with my mother." Ranger said.

"Carlos." She said hugging him to her. "Why don't you come visit your mama. I have to hear from the neighbors that you are at the church." She smacked him in the head.

She released him and looked over to me. "You must be Stephanie she said. It is about time Carlos brought you home." She pulled me into a hug. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable since my family is not touchy feely. My family shows love with food.

When she stepped back she took both my hands in hers. "I am very happy that my Carlos has found such a wonderful caring woman." She looked down at my hand and screamed. "Ricardo."

He came rushing out from the back of the house. "What's wrong Maria?" He spotted us and smiled.

"Carlos." He said hugging Ranger.

"Dad it's good to see you. I'd like you to meet Stephanie."

"Ricardo, Carlos is getting married." Maria squealed in joy.

"Welcome to the family." Ricardo told me pulling me into a hug.

I looked at Ranger and mouthed "How did she know." He looked down at my ring. Oh, I should have realized she spotted it.

"Please come in. Can I get you something to drink?" Mrs. Manoso asked.

"Can please you use your bathroom?" I asked.

"Of course dear. I'll show you where it is." She led me upstairs. "It's the first door on the right." I thought my bladder was going to burst. I don't think I was ever so relieved to use the bathroom. I finished up and went back down the stairs. The house was tastefully decorated in vibrant colors. I followed the sound of voices to the back of the house.

Ranger was sitting on the couch. I walked in and he motioned me to sit next to him. His parents were looking at me expectantly.

Maria looked at me. "Carlos wouldn't tell us anything till you returned. Have you set a date for the wedding?" She asked.

I looked over to Ranger. I had no idea how to answer her. He sighed. I don't know if I ever heard him sigh before.

"We're getting married tonight at the church mama."

"Carlos what do you mean. You weren't planning on telling us. You didn't invite anyone from our family. Are you ashamed of us?" She was talking very loudly.

"I'm sorry mama. It is a private wedding, we didn't invite anyone." Ranger said.

"Why would you do that?" She asked confused.

"Stephanie is three months pregnant. We want to get married before she starts to show." He said.

"Why aren't you inviting anyone? Don't you love her? Carlos please tell me you did not get her pregnant like Rachel and plan on divorcing her as soon as she has the baby."

"No, I love Stephanie mama. I just found out that she is pregnant. She is having twins."

I decided it was time to speak up and help him out. My mother would still be yelling at me if Ranger didn't pacify her.

"Mrs. Manoso."

"Call me mama or Maria dear."

"Maria I wanted to elope to Vegas, but Carlos insisted we were married in the Catholic Church." I told her.

She smiled at Carlos. "We can plan a quick wedding so everyone can attend."

"I'm sorry mama, but that isn't possible. There is a man I put in jail that has escaped. He is believed to be on his way here to seek revenge against me. We have to do this quick. I cannot take a chance that word would get out to him. I must keep Stephanie and the babies safe."

"We can attend tonight then. I will call the family. We will plan the fastest wedding in history." She told him.

"I'm sorry but we can't do that. I have men at the church now to secure it. After four o'clock mass lets out, no one will be allowed to enter the church. It is the only way we can secure it. If we have people showing up the chances of someone getting in that could do us harm rises greatly. When all of this is over we can have a small reception with both families." Ranger calmly stated.

"Then just your father and I will attend."

"Don't you and Dad have an anniversary party to attend tonight for Tia Anna and Tio Cesar? It would pose too many questions if you didn't show up. Lester will even be there." I could tell she caved when he reminded her about the party.

"You know I do not like it, but if it will keep you, Stephanie and the babies safe." She smiled at me.

"Carlos let me show you the pond I've been working on in the backyard." Ricardo told him. Ranger kissed my forehead and followed his father out.

Maria got up and sat down next to me on the couch. "May I?" She asked putting her hand on my stomach. I beamed with pride.

"You love my Carlos?" She asked.

"Yes I do." I answered.

"You are good for him. He loves you very much. I know he doesn't get to see Julie much, but he will be a good father."

"He is the best man I know. Even though he doesn't see Julie much I know he loves her and would give his life for her." I was starting to get choked up.

Maria hugged me to her. "I know my son won't be the easiest to live with. He can be extremely stubborn. He has made many enemies over the years, and he can go to extreme measures to ensure his loved ones safety. Please remember that he loves you when he goes overboard."

I gave her an inquisitive look. How could she know that he would lock me up if thought I was in danger?

"There have been times when he has put us in a safe house when he thought we might be targeted by his enemies. We have a panic room in the house, and our house is monitored by Rangeman." She explained.

Ranger and his father came back into the room. "I'm sorry mama but Stephanie and I need to get back."

Maria gave me a hug and got up to give Ranger one too. Ricardo gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek before we left. As soon as we started the suv Ranger's cell phone rang.

"Report. No. Make sure everything is set." I hate that I can't tell any of the conversation when he is on the phone.

We took off driving back to Rangeman. We drove for about a twenty minutes before Ranger spoke.

"Thank you for helping with my mother. She would have been furious if she knew I wanted to take you to Vegas and force you to marry me." He kissed my hand.

"You helped me with my mother. If you didn't talk to her I would still be there now hearing how disappointed she is in me." We both were lost in thought the rest of the way back.

We pulled into the garage and I had a thought. "What will I wear?" I was starting to hyperventilate.

"Babe." Ranger pushed my head down and held my hands. "Ella went shopping. She'll bring the dress to the church tonight." I breathed deeply and slowly lifted my head. Ranger came around to open the door for me. He took us straight up to seven.

"Steph I think you should try to get some rest all the stress isn't good for you and the babies. I need to go down to see if there's any progress on Mendez."

"I was going to take a nap anyways." I told him. He came over and gave me bone melting kiss. "Dream of me." He said and left.

I laid down and realized in a couple hours I would be Mrs. Carlos Manoso. I am having his children. It's all surreal. I have loved him for more than three years and I thought this day would never come. I fell asleep dreaming of Ranger.


	6. Chapter 6

A **huge** Thank You to everyone that has been R&R my story! Reading your reviews makes my day. Ranger will still be controlling in this story but not to the extent he was at the beginning.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

I laid down and realized in a couple hours I would be Mrs. Carlos Manoso. I am having his children. It's all surreal. I have loved him for more than three years and I thought this day would never come. I fell asleep dreaming of Ranger.

Chapter 6

I was on a white sandy beach watching Ranger swim in the ocean. He stood up, water dripping from his chiseled body. I licked my lips as he walked towards me with a predatory gleam in his eyes. I went instantly damp, my bikini soaked. It amazes me how one look from him can do that to me. He came closer and I pulled him down on the blanket with me, kissing him thoroughly.

"Babe I would love to join you in bed, but Lula and Ella will be up shortly to help you get ready." I opened my eyes and Ranger was sitting on the bed next to me wearing nothing but a towel. The fresh smell of Bvlgari was intoxicating, and he had a couple drops of water dripping down his chest. I licked my lips.

"Your looking at me like I'm lunch." Ranger smiled at me.

"After we're married tonight, I will spend hours worshiping my wife but we don't have time right now." Ranger leaned down and kissed me for all I was worth. I tried to pull him down with me, but he wouldn't let me. I sighed and went to take a shower.

I came out wearing a blue silk robe that was hanging on the back of door. Thank God for Ella. Speaking of her, she and Lula were waiting for me in the bedroom. Lula was wearing a beautiful long black dress with a periwinkle blue sash. Her hair was styled straight, and she had just the right amount of make-up on. She looked amazing.

"Wow Lula you look amazing!" I told her. She came over and gave me huge hug.

"We better make you fanfuckingtastic then white girl. I can't show up the bride."

There was a dark mahogany vanity in the room that matched Ranger's furniture perfectly. They lead me over to it. I guess Ella decided I needed a vanity. Lula assisted Ella. Ella blow dried my hair, then put it into big rollers. She did my make-up flawlessly. Lula brought me tea and toast while Ella was working on my hair.

"Dear you need to eat, but I think you need something light. I wouldn't want you to be sick before the wedding." Ella smiled at me.

I ate while she did her magic. My hair looked fabulous. Ella had pinned up the sides, exposing my face and leaving the rest of my hair in big flowing curls. I was star struck.

"Wow. Thank you Ella."

"It was my pleasure Stephanie. You look beautiful. I won't be able to make it because we have an anniversary party, but everything you need to get dressed is at the church. Lula will be able to help you with your dress." I gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek and she left.

I grabbed one of Ranger's white button down shirts and a pair of stretch pants. I didn't want to take a chance of messing up my hair and make-up. Lula and I went out to the living room and found Ranger and Tank waiting. They were both wearing black tuxedos with black vests that had periwinkle blue accents throughout. Ranger turned around and gave me his two hundred watt smile. He looked good enough to eat.

"Babe." He said coming over and taking my face in both of his hands. "I love you." He said before he kissed me. It was sweet and quick, but I went week in the knees. He steadied me pulling me flush up against him. We heard Tank clear his throat.

Ranger and I walked hand in hand to the elevator. When I stepped into the garage I was shocked to see a black Cadillac Escalade stretch limo waiting for us. Bobby opened the door for Tank, Lula, Ranger and I. We pulled out and I think every SUV from the garage was either in front or behind us.

"Is everyone coming?" I asked.

"Security." Tank answered.

I was leaning against Ranger surprised that no one was talking. Well I guess it's not unusual for Ranger and Tank, but it is for Lula and I. We arrived at the church and I saw Merry Men everywhere. They escorted us up to the church guns drawn. I rolled my eyes. Was it really necessary to have they're guns out like that. I could tell most of them were happy. I guess it was like a mission to them, kids. I shook my head.

We entered the church and Ranger walked Lula and I over to the room that I was supposed to use to get ready in. He knocked on the door. Hal opened it from the inside. This time Hal was wearing his Rangeman black uniform.

"Now see if you were wearing that earlier I would have never stunned your ass." Lula said to Hal.

He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it when looked over at Ranger.

"Room is secure." He said exiting so Lula and I could enter.

There was a large white bag hanging in the corner. I undressed while Lula went to get the dress out of the bag. Ella had laid out underwear, a bra and thigh high stockings for me. I put them on, and noticed a box with a blue and white garter. I opened it and slid on the garter. I turned around and had to sit down. I was in shock.

"How?"

"Girl don't start getting all emotional on me. I don't know if I can handle them darn pregnancy hormones you've been sporting. Batman wouldn't let me bring any donuts."

"How did he know I wanted that dress?" I didn't think my eyes were working right. Six months ago when Lula was looking through wedding magazines for her and Tanks wedding, I saw this dress and loved it.

"Girl that man knows everything. I guess he took the magazine one day when he was at the office. It was there one day and gone the next, Tank and I broke up so I didn't need it anymore. I never thought much of it."

The dress was perfect. It was a Valentino. It was white, strapless, it cinched together at the bust and then was straight with lace overlay. It went down into a flowing train covered in lace and white flowers. It was my dream wedding dress.

Lula helped me into it. I crossed my fingers when Lula zipped up the dress. I was praying it would fit.

"Ella told me she added a little elastic on the sides of the dress." Lula told me. It zipped up easily. I only had a little baby bump. I put my hand on my stomach and went to look in the mirror. I was going to marry the man of my dreams wearing a Valentino original. I put on the matching heels.

Lula went to see if they were ready for us. She came back in and motioned for me to come out. Ranger was waiting and took my arm in his. "You look stunning." He told me.

We stood at the altar. Tank was at Ranger's side and Lula was at mine. She handed me a bouquet of white roses. I looked around the altar. There were white roses and white candles everywhere. It was beautiful. I noticed Cal was there taking pictures of us and Ram had a video camera. Pepe was about to start when he looked to the back of the church. We all turned around to see what he was looking at. Lester was walking up the aisle with an old woman.

"Abuela." Pepe greeted her.

She looked straight at Ranger. Oh shit, this was his grandma. Lester walked her right up to us.

"Carlito are you going to introduce us?" Ranger looked defeated.

"Abuela this is Stephanie. Stephanie this is my grandma Rosa."

"See was that so hard you foolish boy." She said smacking him.

She looked over to me and smiled. "I would like to have a word with Stephanie." Ranger looked like he was going to object, but she shot him a look that said it was not a request.

She took my hand and walked over to the pews. We sat down and she took both of my hands in her frail ones.

"You are pregnant." I nodded yes.

"With twins." I nodded yes again. I was very nervous. Neither Ranger nor Lester seemed to be able to stand up to their grandma.

"Do you love my Carlito?"

"Yes, I do." I answered, my voice full of emotion.

"I know what you did for him and Julie. I believe you are good for my nieto querido (beloved grandson). I have never seen him happier than when he speaks of you. Don't look surprised. I may be viejo (old), but nothing gets past me. Carlito has told me about you for anos (years). I have something for you."

She opened her purse and pulled out a small ivory colored silk bag. "I wore this when I married Carlito's Abuelo. I would like you to wear it today, and pass it down to your children when they are married." She took out a beautiful antique pearl necklace.

"Thank you." I started crying.

"Shh querida. None of that. You put this on and go marry my nieto (grandson).

I smiled up at her and gently took the necklace. Ranger came over to us and smiled. He attached the necklace around my neck. "Gracias Abuela." He told her kissing her cheek.

Lester sat down with Abuela Rosa, and Ranger and I walked back over to the altar. Pepe was beaming.

I was staring into Ranger's eyes. Pepe was speaking, but I was focused on Ranger. We stared into each others eyes the whole time. Pepe turned to Ranger.

"Repeat after me."

Ranger took both my hands in his and repeated.

"I Ricardo Carlos Manoso take thee, Stephanie Michelle Plum to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, til death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; Thereto I pledge my love."

I was crying and Ranger had tears in his eyes. Next it was my turn. I took a deep breath and smiled at Pepe letting him know I was ready.

I Stephanie Michelle Plum take thee, Ricardo Carlos Manoso to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, til death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; Thereto I pledge my love."

We exchanged rings. We had matching white gold bands. When Carlos kissed me he delicately took my face in both of his hands. The kiss started out sweet but turned very passionate. When we broke away he placed his head on top of mine. "I love you Stephanie."

We had to sign some documents, then we went over to Abuela Rosa. She pulled Ranger down to her and kissed his head. "I am so feliz (happy) for you. You come to see me soon."

Than she gave me a hug. "Please be patient with my Carlito. He loves you very much. I am muy feliz (very happy) that you have joined are familia." I kissed her cheek.

Lester left to take Abuela back to the anniversary party that they came from. He winked at me on the way out.

Tank came over to us. "Congratulations Man" He shook Ranger's hand.

"Damn white girl, you done married Batman." Lula said hugging me. "I'm so darn happy for you."

"Thanks Lula for everything." I told her.

"Babe we need to go." Ranger said.

We walked to the limo. This time it was only Ranger and I in the back. Bobby drove and Hal sat up front with him. Tank and Lula followed in a suv behind us.

Ranger was kissing me. I looked up into his eyes. "I can't believe that I am Stephanie Manoso." I said. Ranger's eyes turned black and his mouth came crashing down on mine.


	7. Chapter 7

Ranger was kissing me. I looked up into his eyes. "I can't believe that I am Stephanie Manoso." I said. Ranger's eyes turned black and his mouth came crashing down on mine.

Chapter 7

Ranger's hands were everywhere and our breathing was ragged. "I love you." I panted. We had just pulled away from the church minutes ago, and we were fighting to get our clothes off. Just as Ranger started to unzip my dress I heard a loud noise, the window to my left shattered, and Ranger shoved me flat against the floor, covering my body with his. There was glass everywhere. The limo accelerated to speeds that were making me nauseous. The glass separating us from Bobby and Hal was lowered.

Ranger was caressing up and down my body feeling for any signs that I was injured. I had the wind knocked out of me, I was frightened and I wasn't sure I could speak.

"Ranger." Bobby said. Hal was on the phone speaking so rapidly I couldn't make out a word of what he saying. He was speaking in English, but it all sounded like gibberish to me.

"It missed us, but we need to get somewhere safe. I want Stephanie checked out immediately. I had to tackle her to the ground." Ranger told him while stroking my face, trying to reassure me that everything would be ok.

"It was a sniper. We have Cal and Hector in front of us, Tank and Lula behind us and everyone else is tracking down the SOB." Hal relayed to Ranger while still on the phone.

"Lester?" Ranger asked.

"I called, he's on his way." Bobby replied.

I looked over to where the bullet was lodged into the seat. If Ranger wasn't on top of me when the bullet penetrated it would have taken off his head. I started crying uncontrollably.

Ranger was checking me again for signs that I was hurt. "Are you hurt? Is it the babies?" He asked. I shook my head no.

Another shot rang out and the limo started to swerve. Bobby was struggling to keep us from crashing. He finally came to a stop. Our doors were yanked open. Ranger cradled me to him, picked me up and laid me down on the back seat of Tank's suv covering my body with his once again. The door was closed and Tank took off, speeding down side streets. I think I was going into shock. I clung to Ranger like he was my lifeline, and he is. If anything happened to him I don't know how I would survive.

After the second shot was fired I stopped crying. I was completely focused on Ranger's face. Mine must have been one of sheer panic, because the worry on his was showing. I was holding him so tight my nails were leaving marks. He was whispering to me in Spanish, it was calming me. He was alright, I was alright, we would get out of this.

It was dark outside, but all of a sudden there was light around us, I noticed the vehicle had stopped, and heard a garage door closing. Tank opened the door for us. Ranger scooped me up and carried me into the house. He took me upstairs with Bobby close on his heels. He undressed me and laid me down on the bed. Bobby was taking my blood pressure. He had his stethoscope out and was listening to my heart, and then the babies heartbeats. Ranger held my hand the whole time whispering to me in Spanish. Bobby was feeling my stomach for any signs of pain.

Bobby motioned to Ranger. Ranger kissed my forehead. "I'll be right by the door Babe." He got up and followed Bobby over to the door. They were speaking in hushed tones. I couldn't make out anything Ranger was saying, but I could hear some of the words Bobby said. I heard him say elevated, shock, and sedate. They finished talking and Ranger laid down next to me, pulling me close to him.

Bobby sat down on the side of the bed. "Stephanie the babies seem fine, but your blood pressure is way to high. We need to get it down fast. I'm going to give you a mild sedative. It won't hurt the babies, but it will help calm you." I looked over to Ranger for reassurance.

"I won't let anything happen to you or the babies." He told me. I buried my head in his chest. I didn't want to see the needle. I felt a slight prick on my arm. After a few minutes my eyes were getting droopy. I wasn't sure if it was because of the adrenalin wearing off or if it was because of the sedative.

Ranger never left my side, and I slowly fell asleep in his arms.

I had some weird dreams. I woke up and noticed that my arm felt funny. It looked like the sun was setting. Oh no, I'm in a hospital. I opened my eyes and looked around. Lula was sitting in a chair next to the bed. Wait I was in a queen sized bed. I wasn't in a hospital, but I did have an IV drip.

Lula noticed I was awake. "Girl you done scared the shit out of me. Here they said you would be thirsty." She held a bottle of water with a straw in it out to me. "Now drink slowly I don't want you getting sick on my watch."

I drank the water and looked around some more. "Where's Ranger?" I asked. "He's downstairs with guys." We heard the guys yelling downstairs. It sounded like they were yelling at Ranger. Ranger was yelling at them. I never heard him yell before. Usually Ranger speaks quietly and precisely when he's upset.

Ranger came up the stairs. As soon as he entered the room I could see was pissed off. He smiled at me trying to hide it. Lula got up and left the room. I think she was scared of Ranger. "You scared Lula." I told him. He shook his head as if he were trying to clear it, turned around and closed the door. He came over a laid down next to me pulling me close to him. He buried his head in my hair and his hand was snaked under the large t-shirt I was wearing, he rested it on my stomach.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

He took a deep breath. "We're at Lester's."

"Why do I have an IV? Is everything alright with the babies?" I was panicking.

Ranger sat up to look at me. "Shh querida. Everything is fine. Your blood pressure was too high. Bobby gave you a mild sedative. We had a doctor come last night to check on you. You started to wake up once, but you were very agitated. The doctor gave you another sedative and the IV. The IV is just a precaution so you don't get dehydrated."

I started to remember everything that happened yesterday. Ranger and I were married. The gun shots and the chase. I was so afraid I was going to lose him.

"I'm right here Babe, everything is fine. You need to stay calm." Damn Esp.

"Why were you so upset?" I looked at him.

Ranger took another deep breath. I could tell he was trying to decide what to tell me. "We have a rule at Rangeman that if anyone's wife is pregnant he's pulled off of field duty. We just got a tip on Mendez, but the guys enforced the rule."

Holy shit they just pulled Ranger off field work. "I'm sorry." I said looking away.

Ranger took my face and turned it to look at him. "I'm not upset with you Babe. It's a necessary rule, and they were right to enforce it. I just want to get Mendez, I hate sitting on the sidelines, but I need to be here with you. You are my life."

I had tears in my eyes. I love him this man so much, and just when I think I can't possibly love him more he says something like that. I snuggled into him. Our intimate moment was interrupted by Bobby.

He had a tray in his hand.

"How are feeling?" He asked me. "Tired." I answered.

He smiled. "You need your rest. I think we'll keep the IV in and see how you are in the morning. I brought you some food."

I sat up, and he placed the tray on my lap. He brought chicken noodle soup, crackers, orange juice, and chocolate chip cookies. "Thanks Bobby." I smiled up at him.

I ate everything. Ranger took the tray from me and placed it on the dresser. "I need to use the bathroom." Ranger helped me stand up, and he held the IV bag up, walking me over to the attached bathroom. He draped the bag over the towel bar and left the bathroom. After using the bathroom I washed my hands. Ranger opened the door.

"Is there a toothbrush?" I asked him. He pointed to the cosmetic bag on the counter. I opened it up and there was a new toothbrush and toothpaste. I brushed my teeth and pulled out a brush.

"Let me." Ranger said grabbing the brush. It would have been hard for me, but I would have managed. It was sweet of him. He brushed my hair and lead me back to the bed.

"Can we go downstairs?" I asked.

"Not tonight. You need to rest." I started to pout.

"How about we watch a movie. I'll have Bobby make us some popcorn." He was bribing me.

"Ok, but I want to watch a chick flick."

Ranger shook his head and smirked at me. He left to get the movie and popcorn. He came back with a tray of popcorn, two bottles of water and the Twilight movie.

"Will this do?" He asked holding up the movie.

"Yep." I smiled. I couldn't believe he was going to watch the Twilight with me. I had gone to see it with Mary Lou when it came out. I didn't have the patience to read the book, but the movie was great.

We settled in to watch. I dozed on and off during the movie. When it was over Ranger turned the TV off and undressed to go to sleep. I snuggled into him and was getting turned on.

"I want nothing more than to make love to my wife, but tonight you need to rest." Damn Esp again!

I fell asleep snug in my husbands arms. I've never felt so secure in my life. I didn't think I'd ever want to get married again, and the thought of kids always scared me. Ranger had a way of making all of my fears go away. There is a mad man on the loose, but I know that Ranger will do everything in his power to keep me safe.

The next morning Bobby took the IV out. He said my blood pressure was back to normal. I was able to walk around the house, but the guys hovered over me. One time when I got up go to the bathroom Ranger, Tank and Lester jumped up to follow me.

"Damn can't the girl even take a piss without you stooges." Lula yelled at them. They all looked sheepish and sat back down. After that they gave me a little space. It's bad enough being locked up in the house, but having the guys follow me around like I'm going to break was driving me insane.

Ranger let me know there were two separate gunman. They managed to kill the first who ended up being Mendez' brother Julio. The other gunman was his right hand man Juan. He was actually shot by some feds. They were able to get out of him that it was just the three of them before he died. Mendez is still on the loose.

Ranger wanted to spend one more night at the house before moving me. At about nine the feds called saying they got an anonymous tip about where Mendez was holed up. Everyone left but Bobby, Lula, Ranger and I. I started to get a weird feeling and looked at Ranger.

"Yeah, I feel it too." He told me. The lights went off five minutes later.

Ranger took me downstairs to a panic room in the basement. Bobby and Lula were upstairs checking out the house. Ranger's phone rang. "Power's out. No. It doesn't feel right. Call the guys, send them back." He told them.

He ended the call, we heard screaming and shots fired. Ranger held me close to him whispering Spanish to me to keep me calm. I knew it was killing him not being in the action, but having him hold me kept me calm. The noise only lasted two minutes, but we stayed put. Ten minutes later the lights came back on and Lester came down to get us.

"Report." Ranger barked.

"Mendez is dead. Bobby was hit in the shoulder. Hal took him to the hospital, but I think he'll be fine. The feds are upstairs. How you doing beautiful?"

"I'm fine. How's Lula?"

Lester smile was huge. "She killed Mendez." he said laughing. "From what I gathered she was hiding when Mendez and Bobby had a shoot out. Bobby was hit and Mendez went over to finish him off. Lula came up behind him and unloaded her gun into him." We all laughed at that.

Ranger carried me upstairs. He insisted I was checked out by the paramedics that arrived on the scene. They said my blood pressure was only slightly elevated, and as long as I took it easy for a day I should be fine. They gave me some Gatorade, and released me to Lester. Ranger gave his statement, and Tank drove us back to Haywood.

Ranger and I went straight up to seven. Ella had left macaroni and cheese and piece of apple pie for me. I had already eaten dinner, but after all the excitement I was famished. I ate everything and laid down. Ranger had gone down to five to talk to the guys and Lula.

I couldn't believe that Lula saved us all. Who would have thought.

Thanks for R&R. I promise smut in the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Ranger and I went straight up to seven. Ella had left macaroni and cheese and piece of apple pie for me. I had already eaten dinner, but after all the excitement I was famished. I ate everything and laid down. Ranger had gone down to five to talk to the guys and Lula.

I couldn't believe that Lula saved us all. Who would have thought.

Chapter 8

I was frantic, screaming and trying to get loose. I was in my apartment tied to a chair and Mendez had a gun poised at the door waiting for Ranger to walk through it. The door opened, Ranger walked through, looked at me, held up his hands and I heard Mendez unloading his gun. I screamed.

"Babe. Stephanie wake up." I woke up screaming. Ranger was holding me. I put my hand on his cheek, making sure he was real. The dream seemed so real. I looked around and saw that I was in Ranger's bed, our bed. I breathed a sigh of relief. Ranger wiped away the tears that were on my face. I used to have a similar dream after Scrog shot Ranger. This dream was just a little different, Julie wasn't in it, and my mind had replaced Mendez for Scrog.

I clung to Ranger holding him as tight as could. He was whispering to me in Spanish, calming me, kissing my face. I couldn't get close enough to him. When he went to kiss my cheek I moved my face and his kiss landed on my lips. I pulled him closer, opening my mouth to him. He was kissing me slowly. I deepened the kiss, plundering his mouth. I couldn't get enough of him, I needed him.

Without breaking the kiss Ranger lowered me down on the bed. Cradling my head in his hands. His hands moved, caressing my body. He broke the kiss to pull my shirt over my head. His mouth captured one of my nipples, he sucked and bit it. I was clawing at his back lifting my hips to get as close to his erection as I could get. I tried to pull down his boxers but I wasn't having much luck. Ranger quickly pulled them off for me, then he pulled my panties off even quicker. I lifted my hips again in anticipation, pulling him back down to me.

"God Babe." Ranger said. His cock was positioned above me, he was rubbing it back and forth over my slit without pushing inside of me. I kept trying to move my hips to push him where I needed him, but he wasn't letting me.

"Please Ranger." I cried out huskily. "I need you."

"What do you need Babe? Tell me." He whispered in my ear. Biting my neck, making me cry out.

"I need you inside me NOW!" I screamed.

Ranger slid inside of me filling me completely. I moaned in appreciation. He felt unbelievable. He was still inside of me, I moved my hips trying to get him to move. He cupped my face, kissing me fiercely. He started thrusting in and out, while kissing, licking and nipping at my neck, breasts, and lips. I was close and took hold of his ass pulling him even closer. Ranger sped up his thrusts.

"Look at me, I want to see yours eyes when you cum." He said.

I looked into his eyes, seeing so much love it pushed me over the edge. I struggled to keep my eyes open, locked on his eyes while wave after wave went through me. I was screaming his name "Carlos", and it took him over the edge. He spilled his hot seed in me, I was crazy with want, my walls clenching around him, throwing me into another climax. He didn't stop thrusting into me till I came down from my orgasm. We kept our eyes on each other the whole time. It was the most intense thing I had ever felt.

Ranger rolled onto his back pulling me so I was laying half on top of him. His hand was stroking up and down my back, it was very comforting and I immediately fell back asleep.

Ranger was putting my shirt on when I woke up. "What's wrong?" I asked him. I noticed my panties were on too, and I know I fell asleep completely naked.

"Sorry, Ella and Bobby are here to check on you."

I was a little confused in my partially asleep state. "Can I go to the bathroom?"

Ranger chuckled. "Yeah Babe. I just didn't want them to come in and see you naked."

As soon as I came out of the bathroom Ella walked in the bedroom with a breakfast tray. Bobby was right on her heels with his medical bag. Ranger walked in with my prenatal vitamin. Yeesh I hope they don't hover like this everyday, I might go crazy.

"Since your supposed to take it easy, I thought you would like breakfast in bed." Ella smiled sweetly. How can I get upset with that. She made me a breakfast burrito, wheat toast, fresh fruit, and a glass of orange juice. Yum.

"Why were you out of bed Stephanie? I thought you were told to take it easy for a few days." I rolled my eyes at Bobby's comment, and pointed to the bathroom.

"I feel fine Bobby, and I think I'm allowed to go to the bathroom." I held out my arm for him while he took my blood pressure.

"Your blood pressure is back to normal, but I'd still like to see you on bed rest for a couple days. I'll be back after lunch to check on you again."

I rolled my eyes. Don't get me wrong I love Bobby, but he's really getting on my nerves. I think Ranger noticed because he ushered Bobby and Ella right out. I heard Bobby arguing with Ranger, he sounded upset. Of course I couldn't hear Ranger's side, and could only make out muffled words from Bobby. I heard the door close, and Ranger came back into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, I know he upset you." He told me sliding back into bed next to me.

"Why is he being so paranoid?" I asked with a mouthful of food.

"He knows if anything happens to you he will never hear the end of it from me or the guys." I must have looked surprised because Ranger spoke again. "All the guys love you Babe. They think of you as their little sister."

"Why was Bobby so upset?"

Ranger took a minute before he answered. He was trying to weigh what he should tell me.

"Just tell me." I told him.

"He knew we had sex, and he was upset. He thinks you should take it easy, and he wants me to keep my hands to myself."

I burst out laughing. "Did he actually tell you to keep your hands to yourself?" I couldn't believe anyone would tell Ranger what to do, especially something like that.

Ranger chuckled. "Yeah, he did." I laughed again.

"Well I hope you don't plan on listening to him. I have these raging pregnancy hormones, and I need my husband to take care of them."

Ranger's eyes went completely black. "You never disappoint." He said kissing me.

I finished my breakfast, and Ranger took the tray out to the kitchen. He came back to get into bed with me. He took off the sweats he was wearing and slid under the covers. He was gloriously naked. I licked my lips.

Before I knew what happening Ranger had my shirt and panties back off. He was kissing my stomach. "Are you sure you feel ok?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes again. "I'm fine." I said reaching for him.

He was kissing, sucking and driving me absolutely crazy with need. I pushed him off me. I think he was in shock. He was laying on his side. "Did I hurt you Babe." His voice laced with concern.

I pushed him onto his back and straddled him. I was so wet his cock slid in easily. I rode him relishing in the feel of him deep inside of me. I leaned back to hold on to his thighs, and Ranger was massaging my clit with one hand and my breast with his other hand. I came hard and fast. Ranger let me ride out my orgasm, then he flipped us. He was driving into me with raw lust and need. He came roaring which set me off into another orgasm.

I was spent and had a major sex buzz. Ranger scooped me next to him.

"Do you remember what the dream you had last night was about?" He asked.

"It was like the nightmares I had after Scrog shot you, only this time it was Mendez instead of Scrog."

Ranger turned me so he look into my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you had nightmares after Scrog?" He asked.

"I tried to ignore the fact that I was having them." I said quietly.

"Babe you need to tell me when things like that happen. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." He said concerned.

"We weren't together back then, and I couldn't tell Joe. After you were shot I told Joe I loved him." Ranger went rigid. I needed to tell him the rest. "What I didn't tell Joe was that yes I did love him, but that night I realized I was in love with you."

"Babe." Ranger said kissing me passionately. I yawned after. "Sleep, I'll be right here."

"Wait don't you need to work?" I asked.

"We're off line. I need to be with my wife right now." I kissed Ranger and fell back to sleep.

I woke up and went to take a shower, dressed and went out to the living room. Ranger had already showered and was on the phone when I walked out.

"Ella will be up to clean in a few minutes." I sat down on the couch and Ranger sat down next to me. He had a pregnancy book with him that he flipped open. I turned the tv on to watch some mind numbing bliss.

Ella knocked on the door before entering. "Don't mind me, I'm just going to straighten up. What would you like for lunch dear?" She asked me.

Ranger opened his mouth to answer, but Ella shot him a look and he closed it. Hmm I keep finding more people who aren't afraid of Ranger.

"Anything is fine." I replied. She smiled at that. I could see her mind working with what she could make that would drive Ranger crazy.

Ella cleaned the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. "I'll be back in a half hour or so with lunch." She called out to us.

Ella brought up Caesar salad and tortilla soup for lunch, and a huge slice of chocolate cheesecake for me.

"Thank you Ella it all looks wonderful." I told her.

"It's my pleasure Stephanie. Let me know if you have any requests for dinner."

Ella left and I dived right in. The soup was awesome. It was cheesy, with peppers and tortillas. I was moaning and saw Ranger shift uncomfortably. "Sorry." I said.

We no sooner finished eating when there was a knock at the door. Ranger got up to answer it. It was Bobby. I guess he was right on time since he said he would be up after lunch. I could tell he wasn't happy that I wasn't in bed, but Ranger shot him a look that said don't say a word.

I went back over to the couch. Bobby took my blood pressure then my temperature. I rolled my eyes.

"Everything seems to be fine, but I'd like you to rest." Bobby told me. I smiled at him and he left.

"He's going to drive me crazy isn't he?" I said.

Ranger took out his phone. "No we're leaving before he drives me crazy."

I heard Ranger on the phone with Ella, then Tank, then Lester, then Lula.

Ella came back up when Ranger was on the phone with Lula. She went back to the bedroom.

"Where are we going?" I asked Ranger.

"Honeymoon." He said giving me a wolf grin.

Sorry this took so long. I was sick last week, and it took me awhile to get motivated.

Thanks for R & R.

M.


	9. Chapter 9

"Where are we going?" I asked Ranger.

"Honeymoon." He said giving me a wolf grin.

Chapter 9

"I need to go down to get a couple files from the office. I'll be back in half hour so we can leave." He gave me a kiss before going downstairs.

I went back to the bedroom to see if I could help Ella with anything. "Can I help?" I asked.

"No dear, but you can sit and keep me company. I actually don't need to pack much for Carlos, and I finished packing for you already." She bustled around the room.

"I don't know what we would do without you Ella. It always takes me forever to pack."

"It's much easier to pack for someone else. Your not trying on everything, and you just put outfits together to pack. I didn't pack too much because I know Carlos will take you shopping for new clothes when you get there."

"I don't want him spending all of his money on me." I thought out loud.

Ella zipped up the suitcase and sat down on the bed next to me. "Honey don't think that. Carlos has more than enough money. He is the happiest I've seen him years, actually he's the happiest I've probably ever seen him. I know you like to do things on your own, but Carlos is your husband now. Let him provide for you."

"I don't need much." I said thoughtfully.

"I know it's hard for you, but you need to let him do things for you. I know he can go overboard, but you just need to tell him when he does. On the other hand you need to let him splurge some."

I was pondering that when Ella left. Woody came up to take the luggage down to the garage. I called my mom to tell her I was leaving. I knew I would never hear the end of it if I didn't call.

"Plum residence." My mother answered.

"Hi Mom."

"Hi Stephanie. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine mom. I called to tell you Carlos is taking me on a honeymoon."

"Yes. He called to tell me dear. Have a good time. I have to take your grandmother to the beauty parlor

now. I'll talk to you when you get back. Bye."

"Oh, ok. Bye Mom."

I was sitting on the couch staring at the phone when Ranger walked back in. "What did you do with my mother?" I asked.

"Babe."

"She's acting all nice. She's not harping on me or making me explain things. It's, it's weird."

Ranger chuckled. "Think about it. What did she always harp on you about."

"Well that's easy. She wanted me to settle down and give her grandchildren."

"Exactly."

"Wow. Does this mean she's not going to nag me ever again."

"I wouldn't go that far, but your mom is happy. Both of her girls are married with children." Ranger took my hands to help me off the couch.

"I never thought I would do anything that made her happy."

We walked to elevator, it stopped on five. Bobby was waiting and he didn't look happy. He leaned against the elevator door to keep it open.

"You didn't tell me you were leaving. I don't think it's a good idea for Steph to travel. I think she should be on bed rest for a few days." Bobby sneered at Ranger.

"I don't need your permission to take my wife away." Ranger told him very calmly. It was eery.

"Then I'm going too." Bobby spat back.

"NO. You and Hal are in charge of Trenton. Call Tank if you need anything."

"Stephanie." Bobby pleaded.

Ranger gave him a look that said don't go there. Bobby stepped back shaking his head and the elevator door closed. Tank, Lester, and Lula were waiting for us in the garage.

"Let's get this show on the road." Lula said bouncing up and down. She was beaming.

Ranger and I got in the Cayenne, and Tank, Lester, and Lula took one of the SUV's.

Ranger relaxed after we pulled out.

"Where are we going?" I asked excitedly. The Dick took me to Point Pleasant for the weekend when we got married. He didn't want to go anywhere, but it one thing that I insisted on. We only spent two nights there, and he didn't splurge on a thing. We had stayed at a small motel, and had to walk three blocks to the ocean.

"It's not what I had in mind, but I had to improvise. We're going to Miami. I have a house there. It's completely monitored by Rangeman, and it's only 15 minutes away from Rangeman Miami. We can stay as long as you want. I have a cousin whose husband is a Gynecologist. We can make an appointment with him if we decide to stay longer."

"It's sounds great."

"No, but it will have to do. After you have the babies, and your comfortable leaving them for a few weeks, we can go anywhere you want."

"Miami is perfect you don't need to take me anywhere else."

Ranger picked up my hand and kissed my fingers. "Babe, I want to show you the world."

Damn, I had tears in my eyes. No one ever wanted to do anything like this for me before, let alone show me the world.

We pulled up to the airport and Ranger went through a side entrance where he showed his ID and parked in a restricted area. Tank followed us in.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." He kissed me quickly and got out and went in a large hangar with Tank. Lester and Lula came over to stand by my door. I let the window down.

"Girl aren't you excited. We're going on private plane and everything." Lester and I laughed at Lula's excitement.

"Yes I'm excited Lula. It will be nice to get away from the Trenton and all the craziness."

"Look at that Lula pointed." A small jet was pulling out of the hangar. Ranger and Tank were walking towards us. The jet stopped and the steps were lowered.

Ranger came over to open my door for me. "Ready." He asked.

"Oh yeah." I said.

Ranger, Lula and I boarded the plane while Tank and Lester stowed the luggage. It was small, but looked comfortable. It looked like it would hold about twelve people. Ranger and I settled in the oversized chairs.

"It belongs to a client of mine." Ranger said ESP-ing me. "I helped him out of a potentially dangerous situation, and he owed me favor. I didn't want our names on any flight lists, and I didn't want to wait for the next flight out either. I haven't had new identification made for Lula yet, but Tanks doing it so we'll have it if we need it."

"You have aliases for me?"

"Babe."

"When did you have mine made?" I asked.

"Two years ago." He said. Wait two years ago I was with Joe. That was before Scrog. That was even before the DeCooch deal. Ranger leaned over, buckled my seat belt, and gave me a bone melting kiss.

"I smell something burning." He whispered in my ear.

"Why." I asked him.

"I have enemies, and I needed to be prepared if anything came up."

"But why me?" I was shocked.

"I'll show you why when we get to Miami." He smirked at me. "Now you need to relax."

He took my hand and the plane taxied down the runway. I was nervous and I squeezed his hand. Once e we were safely in the air Ranger unbuckled our seat belts and pulled me over to cradle me in his arms. He kissed me again.

"You should rest." He told me. I snuggled into him and drifted off to sleep. I've always been very apprehensive on planes so I was surprised to wake up right before we landed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Ranger said buckling my seat belt.

"I've never slept on a plane before." I said.

"Babe you can sleep anywhere." Ranger chuckled.

"Only when your with me." I said quietly.

Ranger growled and kissed me. We were still kissing when the plane came to a stop.

"Dude it's time to go." Lester laughed.

Lula's clothes looked a little askew when she walked past. I shook my head.

There was a black Mercedes McLaren Roadster and a black SUV. Ranger led me over to the Mercedes.

"These cost..." I was speechless.

"A half million." Ranger said opening the door for me. I shook my head.

We took off to the house. It was beautiful outside. Ranger took a hat out of the glove compartment for me and lowered the convertible top. I had only been to Florida once before, and that was over ten years ago. I was so excited and could barely contain myself when we got close to the ocean. Ranger pulled down Key Biscayne Lane where the house were enormous, and right on the ocean. He pulled into the drive of a beautiful three-story house. It had a six car garage, and a separate house off to the side with a two car garage.

"Is this your house?" I asked.

"No Babe, this is our house." Ranger said.

He came around and opened the door for me. My mouth was still hanging open in shock. Ranger closed it for me. He led me in, turning off the alarm. Lester brought our suitcases in and took them upstairs.

"Do you want to explore while I get dinner started?" Ranger asked.

I nodded yes. Ranger kissed my head and walked off to the kitchen. I decided to start at the top and work my way downstairs. I walked up the staircase, and the next to get to the third floor. After I got to the top I found a glass elevator. I know, I couldn't believe that Ranger had an elevator in his house. Who would have thought.

I found the master bedroom and bath. It had french doors that led out to a deck overlooking a long in-ground pool, and the ocean beyond that. The bedroom had a king sized canopy bed, a sitting area and a huge walk in dressing room filled with Ranger's clothes. They were light-colored and colorful. I could just imagine him in them. YUM. The bathroom had a jet tub that could hold four people and a big walk in shower. Everything was tastefully decorated in light neutral colors.

There were two more bedrooms upstairs connected by a full bathroom. Both had queen sized beds There was also another room that Ranger used for an office.

On the second floor I found a gym, and four more big bedrooms, all with attached baths. The first floor had a formal dining room with table that sat twelve, a family room, a game room with a pool table and air hockey, and the kitchen. The kitchen was state of the art. It had a long island with stools, and a breakfast nook. Ranger wasn't in the kitchen, so I ventured outside. I found him manning the grill on the patio with Lester.

Tank and Lula walked over from the side of the house. "Damn Batman, this is one fine house you got here." Lula said.

"Thanks." Ranger told her.

I gave Lula a tour. "Girl if you weren't already pregnant you would have been before you left here." She said after seeing the master bedroom and bath.

"I can't believe this house. I've always dreamed I would take a vacation in a house like this, well not as big. I can't believe that Ranger owns this house. He said we can stay as long as we want. How is the guest house?"

"It's not as big as this, but it's great. It has three bedrooms and two baths. A nice size kitchen and living room." Lula explained.

We went back outside and the guys had everything ready for dinner. It was late September, but it was still muggy in Miami. The sun was starting to set, so the temperature had cooled off some.

We enjoyed grilled chicken, baked potatoes, and a salad. We talked for a while before deciding to take a walk on the beach. Lester said he'd catch us later. Tank and Lula were holding hands. I grinned at Ranger when I saw them. He shook his head at me smiling. He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. We walked for about ten minutes before Ranger told them we were going to head back. They headed back too. I could tell Tank didn't want us walking alone in the dark.

We said goodnight and went into our separate houses. Ranger led me upstairs to the bedroom "Do you want to take a bath?" He asked, giving me a wolf grin. Oh boy!

* * *

Thanks for reading!

M.


	10. Chapter 10

We said goodnight and went into our separate houses. Ranger led me upstairs to the bedroom "Do you want to take a bath?" He asked, giving me a wolf grin. Oh boy!

Chapter 10

Ranger lit candles around the bathroom, put on some soft jazz music, filled the tub and turned off the lights. It was romantic and my hormones were going into overdrive at the sight of my naked husband. He took my hand and helped me into the tub. We leaned back relaxing, my back to his front. Before the water got to cold, Ranger washed my hair for me, then my body. I was reaching for him.

"Patience amante." He chuckled at me.

The man has no idea what his touch does to me. Ranger stood up getting out of the tub, dried off before lifting me out of the tub. He dried me off with the same towel, paying extra attention to my already extremely sensitive areas. He kissed my baby bump, picked me up and carried me over to the bed. He lowered me down kissing me the whole way.

Ranger eased into me slowly. I was arching my back to get him to push further in, but he likes to take things slow. His hands are magic. He was massaging and sucking my breast and I could feel my orgasm building. He put his other hand between us and pinched my clit, and I came hard and fast screaming his name.

"Babe." His voice full of amusement and love.

"Do you know what you do to me?" I asked.

"This he said." Pushing into me, filling me completely. We got lost in each other. Driving each other crazy with need. We both came together the next time. I yawned and Ranger pulled me tight against him. "Sleep querida." He kissed my head.

I woke up a couple of hours later to Ranger's face positioned in between my legs. He had me withering and screaming his name in minutes. We made love again before I fell back to sleep. I don't know if he ever went to sleep because like clock work every two hours he was up making love to me. Hey, I'm not complaining.

The next morning I slept in. Ranger brought me breakfast in bed, and then proceeded to show how good he is in the shower. Luckily the shower has a bench in it or I would have laid like a pile of goo on the floor.

We finally emerged from the house around noon. Lula and Tank were on the patio waiting for us. They were holding hands, giving each other that look.

"Dang girl I thought he was goin to keep you locked up in the bedroom all day." Lula said to me.

I must have turned three shades of red because Ranger came to put his arms around me.

"Um, I-I'm sorry Steph. I was just kiddin." Lula stammered.

Tank looked like he wanted to laugh. I turned my head to look at my husband and he had an innocent look on his face. He was so guilty! I turned around in his arms so I could face him.

"Don't scare Lula." I whispered to him.

"Babe." He said before kissing me, making me forget what just happened.

We sat out by the pool. Ranger and Tank grilled lunch.

"I could get used to this." Lula sighed.

"I would love to stay here forever." I told her.

The next week flew by. We stayed in bed late, swam at the pool, played on the beach, went shopping, took long walks on the beach and make love all through the night. During the day Lula was always around, but it seemed like Tank and Lester switched off and on.

On Sunday night Ranger seemed hesitant. He received a phone call and was speaking in hushed tones in Spanish. The rest of the night I could tell he was agitated. I put my hand on his arm and he smiled at me.

When we went upstairs to bed he pulled me close and inhaled deeply.

"I have to go to the office in the morning."

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"One of our biggest clients is having a problem, and I need to personally take care of it. I just wish we could have had a little more time to ourselves. Once everyone sees me at the office, the phone calls will never stop."

"Ranger you have a company to run, I never expected you to stop everything just because we're married. Do we need to head back to Trenton?"

"No I can work here just like Trenton. All that matters is that your with me Babe."

After that we made love. The next morning Ranger was up by five working out. At six he was in the shower, and by six-thirty he was dressed kissing me goodbye. I tried to pull him back into bed with me.

He chuckled. "Get some more rest, if you want to come by the office we can go out to lunch."

"Sounds good." I mumbled.

Lula and I found the office with just a few wrong turns. The guard at the desk must have been expecting us because he was opening the door for us.

"Good Afternoon Mrs. Manoso, and you must be Lula. I'm Javier. It's a pleasure to meet both of you."

"Thank you Javier, but please call me Steph or Stephanie. Do you know which floor my husband is on?" I love referring to Ranger as my husband. I never thought I'd like calling anyone that, but it just had to be the right man. Each time I say it I get a little giddy.

"Sure he's on five." He walked us over to elevator.

We went up to five and found Ranger's office. I noticed quite a few of the men were staring at me and whispering with each other. I knocked and entered his office, and Lula took off to find Tank. Ranger was finishing up his phone call. He got up came around the desk and pulled me to him, kissing me senseless.

We walked to a quaint restaurant around the corner from the office.

"Babe we're a little short-handed right now. Silvio's mother is sick and he took some time off to help her out. I was going to have Lula do some searches while we're here. Would you mind staying up in my apartment while I'm at work?"

"If you need help all you had to do was say. I can run searches with Lula. I still need to show her some of the other programs."

"Steph you don't need to work if you don't want to."

"I want to work. Just because we're married doesn't mean I want to sit around the pool all day. Although if you're they're with me I could definitely get used to it. When do you want us to start?"

"Tank was going to have lunch with Lula and then set her up. If your going to be working with her I'll call him and have him set you both up in one of the offices."

Ranger called Tank and explained the plan. When we went back to the office and he gave me a tour. It was set up very similar to Haywood. I decided to stay till the end of the day to try to catch up on some of the work with Lula. At six Ranger and Tank came to relieve us.

Ranger and I went back to the house. He grilled some fresh tilapia for dinner while I made a salad. I know I don't cook, but I can chop vegetables.

"Are Tank and Lula joining us for dinner?" I asked him.

"No Tank and Lula are moving into one of the suites at Rangeman."

"Oh." I tried not to sound disappointed, but I got used to having them around.

"Don't worry Babe they'll still come over just not everyday, and Santos will still be staying in the guest house."

"Have you talked to Julie since we've been here?" I asked.

"No, I wanted to talk to you about that first. I wanted us to go see her on Saturday. If Rachel says it's ok, I thought it would nice if we took her to Parrot Jungle Island."

"That sounds great. I would love to see Julie. "What's Parrot Island?"

"Parrot Jungle Island is a zoo with shows. You'll like it." He said kissing me.

The rest of the week Ranger would leave early and Lester would drive me to work at nine. When Ranger wasn't in a meeting we would have lunch together, and we drive home together between five and six.

I was excited and nervous when Saturday came around. When we got to Julie's Ranger took my hand and squeezed it. I gave him a quick smile before we got out of the car. Julie came running out of the house screaming my name.

"Steph I can't believe your here. I'm so happy to see you." She said jumping into my arms. I gave her a big hug.

"It's great to see you to Julie. I think you've grown a foot since I saw you."

Ranger came over.

"Hi Julie." He sounded nervous.

"Hi Dad." She said giving him a big hug. I could see him visibly relax.

Rachel was waiting at the door. We went in to talk with her before we left.

"It's great to see you Stephanie. How are you feeling." Rachel asked.

I looked over at Ranger. He must have told her I was pregnant. "It's nice to see you too Rachel. I'm feeling much better. It's very relaxing down in Miami."

"Julie was so excited to hear you and Carlos we're married, and that you were going to take her out for the day. As long as you are in Miami you can stop by anytime, I know she would love it."

"Thanks Rachel that's very nice of you. Does Julie know about the--."

"No." Rachel interrupted me. "I thought I would let you both tell her today."

"Can we please leave?" Julie said running into the room.

"Thanks again Rachel." I said giving her a hug before we left.

We had a great day at Parrot Jungle Island. When we ate lunch Ranger told Julie about the babies.

"Oh that's so cool. I'm going to be a big sister again. Do you know what you're having? Can I come and see the babies after they're born?" Julie was really excited.

"No we don't know what the sexes are yet, and I can't make any promises before discussing it with your mother." Ranger told her.

Julie was excited the rest of the afternoon. We had a great time. Ranger took us to dinner in Little Havana after we left the park. We dropped Julie back off around nine. She didn't want to go home.

"Julie you have to let them leave." Rachel told her.

"When can you came back?" Julie asked.

"How about if we pick you up for dinner one night this week." Ranger suggested.

Rachel smiled and Julie beamed. "What night?"

"How about Wednesday?" Rachel said.

"We'll pick you up at six Julie." Ranger told her.

We both gave her a hug and kiss before we left.

"You were great with Julie today." Ranger said holding my hand while driving back to the house.

"She's a great kid. You should be proud." I told him.

"I am, but it was Rachel's doing. This is actually the first time I took her somewhere without Rachel and Ron going too."

My mouth must have hung open in shock. "Babe I signed over my rights. I'm lucky Rachel lets me see her at all."

I didn't know what to say. I squeezed his hand offering comfort.

Wednesday came quickly and I was excited to see Julie again. I was happy that Ranger was getting to know his daughter. She was waiting for us when we pulled in the driveway. We went to a restaurant by the beach. It was a nice relaxed evening. Julie said how she wished it was earlier so we could play on the beach.

Ranger suggested she could come out to the house one weekend to swim and play. Julie loved the idea.

Rachel said next weekend would be better and Julie could spend the night on Saturday.

Ranger seemed truly happy. It was so nice to see him this way. He was much more relaxed in Miami, and seeing Julie made his day.

The work week flew by in Miami. I don't know what it was, maybe the nice weather. It just seemed more relaxed, we didn't seem rushed to do anything. Bobby had called during the week and asked me when we were returning back home. I told him I didn't know. I was secretly hoping we could just stay in Miami. He made me promise to book an appointment with a OBGYN if we weren't coming back by the next week.

It was actually nice of him to call. He was much friendlier than when we had left. OK I was being nice, Bobby didn't seem to be in crazy overprotective mode anymore. I had put off mentioning the doctor's appointment to Ranger because I thought he might want to go back to Trenton.

On Sunday we were laying in the chaise lounge on the patio. I figured I better bring up the doctor. Julie was supposed to spend the night next weekend, so hopefully we wouldn't up and leave.

"Booby called me earlier this week."

"He called me too."

"I should really make a doctor's appointment." I said.

"Is it alright if I schedule you with Manuel. He's my cousin's husband. He graduated from Harvard, and I trust him."

"That sounds good." I never thought it would be that easy. Ranger made the suggestion, I didn't have to do anything but agree with him.

"Your birthday is this week Babe. I thought we could have a small party here on Saturday while Julie is here."

"We don't have to have a party."

"Babe." That meant don't even try to get out of it.

"Marissa and I will take care of everything." Marissa was another of Ranger's cousins. She comes in twice a week to clean, do laundry and stock the refrigerator. She is very nice and down to earth. I liked her a lot. I haven't seen her much sense I started working again, but she calls me once a week to see if I need or want anything special from the store.

On Wednesday we took Julie out to dinner again. When I got up to go to the bathroom I saw a man watching me and got very scared. I called Ranger from inside the bathroom. Ranger was waiting for me outside the door with the man.

"Babe this is Owen, he works for Rangeman Miami."

"Hi Owen."

"I'm sorry I scared you." He told me.

Ranger and I went back to the table.

"We're having a party on Saturday." Julie said excited.

Julie and Ranger chatted back and forth making plans for the party. I tried to stay involved in the conversation, but I was still wondering about Owen.

We dropped Julie off and Ranger promised her he would pick her up at 9 on Saturday. When we pulled away I stared at him.

"Do I always have someone following me."

"Babe."

"Answer me."

"Yes."

I'm pissed off at him, but I guess he already told me I would. I just thought since Mendez was dead it was over. We drove back to the house in silence.

A.N.: The ultrasound will be coming up soon. Probably not the next chapter, but the one after. Please let me know what you want the babies to be. It can be one of each, two girls or two boys. Whichever gets the most requests will show up on the ultrasound.

Thanks,

M.


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the last chapter! Your responses were overwhelming, and I greatly appreciated everyone of them! I am truly sorry that it has taken me so long to post!

I'm pissed off at him, but I guess he already told me I would. I just thought since Mendez was dead it was over. We drove back to the house in silence.

Chapter 11

When we arrived home I went straight upstairs to get ready for bed. Ranger had received a call on his cell phone from the office. It gave me some time alone to think. I had changed into pajamas and was washing my face, pondering if I should let the subject drop when Ranger appeared at the door. He startled me and I jumped, almost falling over. Ranger caught me and was holding me, kissing my head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"I was lost in thought and didn't hear you." I was still a little out of breath and I felt Ranger tense. He picked me up and carried me over to the bed. He placed me on it, undressed, put on his silk boxers and got into bed spooning me to him.

"You need to relax Babe. I can feel your heart beating too fast." After that he started whispering soothing words in Spanish to me. I drifted off to sleep. The next morning Ranger I woke up at eight, but I was surprised that he was still in bed with me. He was spooning me, one of his hands was on my belly and the other was playing with my messy head of curls.

"Why haven't you left for the office?" I asked him.

"I called Manuel and he's going to fit you in this morning at the office."

"I thought my appointment wasn't till tomorrow."

"I called him last night and asked him to change it. Your heart was racing after I startled you. I know it's not good for you and the babies, so he's going to check you out this morning. Why don't you shower while I make breakfast."

"I'm sorry I worried you, but I feel fine now. I guess it would be good to get checked out though."

Ranger gave me a quick kiss before picking me up and depositing me in the bathroom.

"I can walk you know."

"I like carrying my wife." He said, giving me a two hundred watt smile.

I showered and was getting dressed when Ranger came back up to take his shower. I did my hair while he was getting dressed and we went downstairs together to eat breakfast. He left both of our plates in the oven to keep them warm. We ate on the patio. I moaned in delight at scrambled eggs. He filled mine with cheese and vegetables, but his didn't have the cheese in them. I ate banana muffin, a bowl of fresh fruit and a glass of orange juice. I don't think I've ever drank so much orange juice, but Ranger insists I have at least one glass a day. He actually tries to feed me some kind of juice with every meal. I try to appease him because I know it's good for the baby.

Lester was waiting for us when we entered the garage.

"Is Lester going with us?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Do you care to explain?" I asked.

"I'm a little distracted worrying about you and the babies." Ranger replied. He seemed a little tense having to say that to me.

"Is there a reason he needs to watch us, or are you just be cautious?"

"Babe. I hope there isn't a reason, but we need to be extra careful. I need to know your safe."

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, and felt my body relaxing. "As long as you aren't keeping any secrets about stalkers or crazy people from me."

Lester drove us to the doctor's appointment. I knew it was killing Ranger to have someone else drive the car, but he didn't say a word. Lester was smiling the whole way there, but new better than to goad Ranger any further than that.

When we arrived at the office Ranger went to check me in. The nurse immediately took us back. I gained five pounds since my last appointment. I had to to undress from the waist down and cover with a paper sheet. I sat on the table and Ranger stood next to me holding my hand.

Manuel knocked on the door and came in. He and Ranger shook hands and Manuel gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Welcome to the family Stephanie." He smiled at me. "You will have to come over for dinner one night very soon."

"It's nice to meet you too Manuel, we would love to come over for dinner."

Ranger glared at Manuel.

"Ah, I see you are still as impatient as ever cousin." He chuckled at Ranger.

Manuel took my blood pressure, listened to my heart and the babies heart beats. Ranger beamed when he heard the heart beats. Next he measured my stomach and did an internal exam. Ranger tensed at that.

"Your blood pressure is slightly elevated, but everything else looks normal. Since you have been having problems with it I would like to send you to have a few tests done. I want you to have some routine blood tests and a gestational diabetes test. I'll have the nurse schedule them for the first thing tomorrow morning. Also we can schedule an appointment for late next week for you to have an ultrasound. By then I should have your test results back. I will also e-script your prescription of prenatal vitamins over to the pharmacy. Do you have any questions?"

Ranger fired off what seemed like a million questions. I knew he was extremely worried so I tried not to let it bother me. I also knew I should pay attention, but zoned out looking at the pictures of the fetus development chart on the wall. I was still hard to believe I was carrying two babies.

By the time we reached the nurses station she handed Ranger two appointment cards with all of the information on them, and a glass bottle filled with some orange liquid.

Lester had us stand by the building while he went to get the car. On the way to the office I grabbed the bottle to read it. I had to drink it before going to my appointment in the morning. That didn't seem to bad.

We all rode the elevator up to five. We stepped off and there was a man who bore a striking resemblance to Ranger.

"Alex your back." Lester said. Giving him a hand shake and a pat on the back. "It's great to see you."

"You to Lester, but I want to meet the lady that has captured my brother's heart."

Alex took my hand in his and brought it to his mouth. Ranger growled when he kissed my hand.

"Mine!" Ranger snapped at him.

Alex's eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Stephanie it pleasure to meet you."

Ranger pulled me away from Alex and close to his side. Alex laughed.

"It's nice to meet you too Alex."

"Now that I am back in town I hope you will both come over on Saturday for dinner. My wife Teresa is dying to meet you, and the boys can't wait to see their uncle."

"We're having a birthday party for Stephanie on Saturday." Ranger replied.

"Great. What time is it at? The kids love going to Uncle Carlos' house."

"It's at two o'clock." Lester piped in.

"When your ready Carlos, I'd like to go over the quarterly reports with you."

I gave Ranger a burg glare. He never told me his brother lived in Miami and worked for Rangeman.

Ranger gave me a quick a kiss. "I'll be done by lunchtime."

"Good I have some questions for you." I told him in an irritated voice.

He pulled me in so our bodies were plastered to each other, and kissed me senseless.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my brother."

"Huh? Oh, it's ok."

He gave me another quick kiss and took off to his office. I walked off to find Lula. Shit, he kissed me fogging my brain and I rolled over and forgave him immediately. Damn he's good I thought walking into the office I shared with Lula.

"How was the doctor's?" She asked when I walked in.

"Fine, but I have tests tomorrow morning." I scrunched my face.

"What kinda tests?"

"Some blood tests and a diabetes test."

"Blood tests. I don't like no one sticking needles in me. Girl I don't envy you." Lula went pale at the mention of blood tests, well as a pale as a dark skinned black woman gets.

I sat down and did a few searches before Ranger came to get me for lunch.

We had lunch up in his apartment.

"Are you going to tell me about Alex?" I asked while pushing the spinach salad around on my plate.

"If you eat your salad."

I stuck out my tongue at him and took a bite. I guess it wasn't to bad, but it would be better if was filled with croutons, meat, and ranch dressing instead of fruit and vinaigrette dressing.

"Alejandro is two years younger than me. I needed someone to handle the finances for the different offices. Alex was in the Army for four years before going to college to become a CPA. He has excellent organizational, and management skills. I hired him a month before I met you. He took over the Miami office while I was starting up Trenton. It was supposed to be temporary. Once Trenton was up and running smoothly he was going to take over, and I was going to move back to Miami."

"Why didn't you move back?" I didn't understand why he didn't move back, he seemed much more relaxed in Miami.

"You." He whispered.

"What?" I didn't know if I heard him right.

"I couldn't move back because I didn't want to leave you."

I stood up and moved around the table to sit on Ranger's lap. He pulled me to him, and I rested my head on his chest.

"I love you." I whispered. I didn't trust my voice. My eyes were full of tears, damn pregnancy hormones.

Ranger just held me to him. I fell asleep in his arms. I woke up an hour later in the bed. Ranger was working on his laptop in a chair next to the bed.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep. You didn't have to stay with me."

"Babe, I want to be with you. You need more rest. I want you to take a nap or at least lay down during the day while we're at work." He gave me a look that said it was not up for discussion. I guess I could take a nap daily without complaining. Who am I kidding, I love my sleep and he knows it.

"I'm going to freshen up and I'll be ready to go back down to work." I said walking to bathroom.

"I thought we could go home early today. You have tests tomorrow and I'd like it if we just relaxed tonight."

"That's fine with me." I said before closing the bathroom door.

We went home and relaxed by the pool. Ranger insisted on putting my sunscreen on me, saying he thought I was looking red. I figured out his true intentions pretty fast. Within minutes he was carrying me to the bedroom. Afterward I laid there spent.

"You've exhausted me."

"Your relaxed aren't you?" he raised an eyebrow at me, and I smiled.

"Yes that I am." my stomach let out a loud growl. "I guess I'm hungry too."

We went downstairs and Ranger made us dinner. We ate in the family room watching The Blind Side. I cried throughout the movie. When it was over we went upstairs, and Ranger insisted that after the movie I needed to be relaxed again. I'll never get enough of my Cuban lover!

The next morning Ranger informed me that wasn't allowed to eat before my appointment, and to drink the orange liquid before we left. He opened the bottle and handed it to me. I took a large gulp and fought not to spit it out.

"That is disgusting!"

"I'm sorry Babe. I chilled it just like Manuel told me. He said it tastes a little better cold."

"Nothing could make this taste better." I whined. Taking another sip. I managed to finish it after 15 minutes.

Lester drove us to the lab where I would have my tests. Per Manuel's instructions we were lead to a private room where I had my own nurse. She explained it would take three hours, and how she would take my blood every half hour. I groaned. She took my blood and let me lay down.

After the second time I had my blood taken I was feeling nauseous. She advised me that it was very common. Ranger laid down with me comforting me. By the time we were finished I was famished, exhausted, and my arms were turning black and blue where she took all the blood from them.

Ranger had Lester stop at Zoup to get me some soup and a sandwich. We took our food back home. I ate and then Ranger insisted I take a nap. I was falling asleep anyways so I didn't put up a fight.

Manuel called on Friday to tell us that my sugar levels were elevated. I was borderline gestational diabetic. He said that I needed to monitor all intakes of sweets. Basically I need to give them up unless it's a special occasion. At least that is what Ranger and I (reluctantly of course) agreed on.

We left work early to pick up Julie. She spent the night to help Ranger with all the party arrangements. She was extremely excited. I went to bed early and Julie stayed up scheming with Ranger.

A/N: Next chapter will be the birthday party and ultrasound.

Thanks for reading! M.


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